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Sticker of Garden acraea
Bug card No. 1788 of 4,939

Garden acraea

Acraea horta
Eats: Nectar and pollenButterfliesGardens and meadows6 legs

The garden acraea is a reddish butterfly from South Africa that often visits gardens. The female's front wings are almost see-through, like thin glass. It is one of the most common acraea butterflies of the Cape.

Lives in
South Africa and Zimbabwe, often in gardens
Wingspan
4.5 to 5.3 cm (1.8 to 2.1 in)
Top speed
about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting people, so you can watch it up close.
What does it eat?
The butterflies visit flowers. The caterpillars eat wild peach trees and passion flower vines.
For real!Photo of Garden acraea
Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Garden acraea wings about 5.3 cm tip to tip (2.1 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
wings as wide as 1.5 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds

How big is Garden acraea compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It can be seen all year, but it is most common from October to April.

2

Its caterpillar is brown-yellow with black stripes and black spines.

3

Females are a bit bigger than males, with back wings that are light yellow to grey-yellow.

4

Its caterpillars love passion flower vines, which many people grow in gardens.

you asked

Most asked questions about Garden acraea

?What does the garden acraea caterpillar eat?

Leaves of the wild peach tree and of passion flower vines.

?Where does the garden acraea live?

In South Africa and Zimbabwe, often in gardens.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Acraea horta
Group
Butterflies
Family
Nymphalidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
Lives on
Africa

Where the facts come from

  1. Acraea horta (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Butterflies

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

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