Bug FAQWindow Acraea
Stephenia oncaea · Order: Diptera · Family: Tachinidae
The Window Acraea has a wingspan of about 40 to 48 mm in males and 43 to 55 mm in females. It lives across parts of southern and eastern Africa, including KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the Congo and regions from eastern Africa to Abyssinia. Its caterpillars feed on plants such as Xylotheca kraussiana, Tricliceras longepedunculatum and various Passifloraceae, including Adenia species.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
A. oncaea can be recognized by fine black streaks in wing cells 3 to 5 (or 6) and usually lacks the discal dot in cell 6 on the forewing. Males have thinly scaled forewings with a dull orange-yellow ground colour, a small black tip about 2 mm wide, and small punctiform discal dots arranged like those of caecilia.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Males measure 40 to 48 mm across the wings, while females are larger at 43 to 55 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are active all year with a peak from September to May and produce several generations annually.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults can be seen throughout the year, especially between September and May.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, eastern Africa to Abyssinia and the Congo.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Males look similar to caecilia, sharing the same pattern of small punctiform discal dots. In German East Africa, the form ab. liacea differs by having a less sharply defined marginal band on the hindwing with thick black lunules underneath.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the Window Acraea look like?
Males have thinly scaled, dull orange-yellow forewings with a narrow black tip and small black streaks in cells 3-5, while females are larger and share similar markings.
Source: Wikipedia
When can I see adult Window Acraea?
Adults are on the wing all year, with the highest numbers from September through May.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Tachinidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acraea_oncaea
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.