Graphium ridleyanus should logically be called Ridley's Graphium in English, but its standard English name is Acraea Swordtail. It does not belong to the genus Acraea. It does not have sword-shaped tails on its wings, either. The tailless African Graphiums are sometimes called Ladies, and this species is sometimes called the Red Lady.
Photo by Jakob, May 2014.
Acraea was the name of a minor character in Greek mythology, a water spirit who worked as a servant to Hera. It also meant "from the heights" and was used as a name for shrines and temples built on hilltops, and for the goddesses worshipped there; there were Hera Acraea, Aphrodite Acraea, Artemis Acraea, and Athena Acraea, and probably more. The Acraea Swordtail is, however, so called because it mimics some butterflies in the genus Acraea, and they mimic it, in Mullerian or reciprocal mimicry, where each species is somewhat toxic to predators in a different way, and each gets some additional protection from resembling the other.
Acraea egina and A. perenna are the Brush-Footed Butterfly species Graphium ridleyanus most resembles. In this series I try to show only one butterfly species per post, but you might want to visit
Ridley was the name of an entomologist who collected several African butterflies for study by Europeans, before succumbing to a tropical disease. Colleagues who named this species in his honor said that he "fell victim to the climate of western Africa."
Photo by Rogerio Ferreira, February 2019, Angola.
Graphium ridleyanus lives in central Africa. Countries where it's been found include Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome e Principe, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. It has been reported in Benin and Sierra Leone, but these reports are now considered to have been erroneous--either the butterflies were misidentified or they were not where they were supposed to be. Graphium ridleyanus is found in the borders between forests and savannas.
It looks very similar to, and as if it might be able to crossbreed with, Graphium angolanus, G. endochus, G. morania, G. schaffgotschi, and G. taboranus.
A popular species, Graphium ridleyanus has inspired many arts and crafts designs, including postage stamps.
At the time of writing this stamp was for sale on Etsy. By the time this post goes live it won't be there any more.
Sites for carcass traffic are abundant. This web site runs over and drips with scorn for the sort of butterfly "collectors" who would rather buy carcasses of big showy exotic butterflies than learn anything useful about their own local species. We collect butterflies in a more tidy and sustainable way now, with cameras--and photos of Graphium ridleyanus for sale are also abundant on the Internet.
Spots and colors are variable. In some individuals the base color of the wings can be described as black, in some as brown, in some as pale sepia. Some have pink, red, or orange patches on the wings and some have yellow or off-white. Both sexes can be darker or more pinkish. Wings can be scantly scaled and translucent. Males and females have slightly different patterns of spots, and some variations have been given subspecies names: infuscatus, fumatus, fumosus, rosa, semivitreus, describing wing coloration, and njami and hecqueti, referring to places. A gallery of color patterns is available for viewing at
Photo by Sudheer Kommana for https://www.tanzaniabirds.net/butterfly/Graphium_ridleyanus/gr.htm#gsc.tab=0
Both males and females have been found but males are much more easily found. They like to hang out at puddles, alone or in groups, often with other Graphiums. Males slurp up brackish or polluted water, storing mineral salts in their bodies and returning filtered liquid to the soil. Though not common they can seem excessively "friendly" to humans, willing to perch on our skin and slurp up sweat.
Its host plant is thought to be Monanthotaxis laurentii
There is still room for African students to become famous by learning the basic facts about this species' life history.
I've never seen this butterfly before, but it is so beautiful. Thanks for the background. And also, thanks for coming over to my spot!
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