Bug FAQPainted Emperor
Charaxes saturnus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
The Painted Emperor has dark brown wings with a broad orange band and orange marginal spots on the hindwing. It lives in savannahs, open woodlands and forest edges across much of eastern, central and southern Africa. Its larvae feed on many native trees and shrubs, eating leaves at night.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
All four wings are dark blackish-brown and show a wide orange band that runs from the forewing edge across both wings toward the hindwing’s inner margin. The hindwing bears six orange crescent marks along the edge, the lower three of which are edged in white or completely white.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in savannah and open woodland from sea level up to 2200 m, including the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro and South African veldt koppies. In Angola and central African forest zones it also occurs in both open and closed-canopy woodlands and secondary forests.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars are polyphagous, feeding on a wide range of host plants such as Brachystegia, Hibiscus, Afzelia, Bauhinia, Burkea, Schotia, Gymnosporia, mopane, Julbernardia and many others. After hatching they eat the eggshell, rest for about 12 hours, then feed at night on leaves of any age or size on the host plant.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species is continuously brooded and can be seen flying throughout the year. Detailed descriptions of the egg, larval and pupal stages are available from van Someren and Rogers.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing year-round, with no distinct seasonal gap.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to most of the African savannah, from Ethiopia and Kenya in the east across to the Central African Republic, Gabon, DRC and Angola, and down through southern Africa to the Eastern Cape.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Both sexes look similar to females of Charaxes achaemenes. They can also be confused with Charaxes guderiana.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the Painted Emperor look like?
Its wings are dark brown with a broad orange band across both pairs, and the hindwing has six orange edge spots, the lower three of which are white-edged or fully white.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is the Painted Emperor found?
It lives across the African savannah and woodland from Ethiopia and Kenya in the east, through central African countries like Gabon and Angola, down to southern Africa as far as the Eastern Cape.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the caterpillars eat?
The larvae feed on many native trees and shrubs, including Brachystegia, Hibiscus, Afzelia, Bauhinia, Burkea, Schotia, Gymnosporia, mopane and Julbernardia, eating leaves of any age at night.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charaxes_saturnus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.