Colotis annae

The Scarlet Tip Butterfly, especially the male, is one of the most striking of its genus. Fully grown adults have a wingspan of up to 5.5cm, though this varies between the seasonal forms. Where their food plants (wormbushes Cadaba and bead-bean Maerua) are abundant Scarlet Tips may form large swarms, especially in late summer and autumn, though there are adults to be seen on the wing throughout the year. They’re often seen together with the Sulphur Orange Tip butterfly, flying similarly slowly and close to the ground and settling often. Scarlet tips inhabit a wide range of savanna vegetation types. In South Africa they’re found from the Eastern Cape through Kwazulu-Natal to Mpumalanga and Limpopo