Bug Wiki
Sticker of Green-veined emperor
Bug card No. 2101 of 4,939

Green-veined emperor

Charaxes candiope
Eats: PlantsButterfliesForests and woods6 legs

The green-veined emperor is a strong orange butterfly from Africa. The thin lines on its wings, called veins, are green, which gives it its name. Each back wing ends in two small tails.

Lives in
Africa south of the Sahara, in forests, savanna and even gardens
Wingspan
4.5 to 6 cm (1.8 to 2.4 in)
Top speed
about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is a butterfly and cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its big green caterpillars eat the leaves of croton trees.
For real!Photo of Green-veined emperor
Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Green-veined emperor wings about 6 cm tip to tip (2.4 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 2 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 25 seconds

How big is Green-veined emperor compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its caterpillars are big and green, with horns on their heads like a tiny dragon.

2

The girls are a bit bigger than the boys.

3

It flies from October to June.

4

Underneath, its back wings are a dark brown colour called sepia.

you asked

Most asked questions about Green-veined emperor

?How big is the green-veined emperor?

Its wingspan is about 45 to 60 millimetres. The females are the bigger ones.

?Where does the green-veined emperor live?

In most of Africa south of the Sahara, in forests, savanna, farms and gardens.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Charaxes candiope
Group
Butterflies
Family
Nymphalidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
Lives on
Africa
Also known as
Green-veined charaxes

Where the facts come from

  1. Charaxes candiope (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.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Butterflies

Also at home here: Forests and woods

Honey jarfor grown-ups