Charaxes contrarius is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found along the coasts of Kenya and Tanzania. The habitat consists of lowland forests, heavy coastal woodland and riverine vegetation at altitudes of near sea-level up to 700 meters.
The larvae feed on Albizia species.
Subspecies C. c. contrarius - Coastal and Eastern parts of Kenya and Tanzania. C. c. lukosi Rydon, Congdon & Collins, 2007 Rydon, A.H.B., Congdon, T.C.E. & Collins, S.C. 2007. A new subspecies of Charaxes contrarius van Someren, 1969 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Charaxinae) from Tanzania.Metamorphosis 18 (4): 144-150. - Inland at Kitonga Gorge, Lukosi R., in Udzungwa Mts., Tanzania
Taxonomy Charaxes contrarius is a member of the large species group Charaxes etheocles
Closely related to Charaxes etheocles, Charaxes grahamei and Charaxes petersi. The female has two main forms Kielland, J. 1990 . Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.
References
Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1969 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology)75-166.
External links taxonomy, images Charaxes contrarius images at Charaxes page Consortium for the Barcode of Life subspecies and forms Images of C. contrarius Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project) African Butterfly Database Range map via search