Introduction
There are about 70 Euriphene species, all of which are found in the forests of the Afrotropics.
Euriphene are similar in appearance to Bebearia but are generally smaller, and their hindwings are deeper and with a straighter costa. On the upperside the males of several species e.g. barombina, coerulea and veronica are grey with a vague metallic steely-blue sheen. Others including lysandra and ampedusa have a brown or reddish-brown ground colour. All have distinctive dark bars in the cell of the forewings and suffused dark markings over the rest of the wings. Several also have a series of small white dots arranged in an arc at the apex.
Females of obtusangula, obani and gambiae are patterned in brown and cream. Most other species including ampedusa however have a brown ground colour and a broken white or cream diagonal band across the forewings.
Euriphene ampedusa is distributed from Senegal to Nigeria.
Habitats
This species can be found in degraded forest but is commoner in good quality closed-canopy forest.
Lifecycle
The lifecycle of ampedusa appears to be unrecorded, but the following generalisations apply to the genus Euriphene: Several species are known to use Combretaceae as larval foodplants. The larvae have long multi-branched lateral spines. Pupation takes place at the end of a twig. Prior to pupation the larva spins a silk web on the twig and wets it with a noxious yellow fluid which deters ants.
Adult behaviour
Both sexes can be found on forest trails where patches of dappled sunlight filter down to the forest floor.