Tag Archives: South African Butterflies

The hills are alive… with butterflies!

I know this is a post that will be very pleasing to several of our regular followers!

With bright sunshine and warm autumn weather in the Drakensberg the butterflies come out to play in their numbers, and we go chasing them with camera in hand. These little beauties were all fluttering around Mahai in the Royal Natal National Park on Monday.

African Monarch

Common Blue (Leptotes sp)

Forest Beauty

Gaudy Commodore (dry season form)

Green-banded Swallowtail

Marsh Commodore

Rainforest Brown

Yellow Pansy

African Leopard Butterfly

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Phalanta phalanta aethiopica

The strikingly beautiful and very active African Leopard butterfly inhabits savanna, woodland, forest edges, parks and gardens and is found over much of South Africa, excluding most of the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape Provinces. It is also known as the Common Leopard and is widely distributed over Africa, Australia, southern Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Eggs are laid singly on a wide range of larval food plants, including exotic poplars and willows. Adults have a wingspan of between 4 and 5.5cm and are on the wing throughout the year.

African Leopard (Phalanta-butterfly)

Beautiful African Leopard (Phalanta-butterfly)

African Leopard (Phalanta-butterfly)

African Leopard

Two-pip Policeman

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Coeliades pisistratus

The Two-pip Policeman butterfly is a denizen of coastal bush and savanna habitats, occurring from Kwazulu-Natal through Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West to the Free State and eastern portions of the Northern Cape Province. Furthermore it is found widely over the remainder of sub-Saharan Africa in similar habitats. Eggs are laid singly and the larvae feed on a wide range of plants, their development from egg to adult butterfly taking around two months to complete. Adults have a wingspan of 4.5 – 7cm and can be seen throughout the year. They fly fast and erratic and adults of both sexes are frequently seen at flowers or mud puddles, usually in the early morning or late afternoon. Males are territorial.

Two-pip Policeman

Two-pip Policeman (butterfly)

Two-pip Policeman

Citrus Swallowtail

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Papilio (Princeps) demodocus

The large Citrus Swallowtail butterfly (wingspan of 9 to 13cm) commonly occurs all over South Africa as well as the rest of the continent south of the Sahara, inhabiting a wide variety of habitats. They are strong fliers, often pausing on flowers and at mud puddles. Though they may be encountered throughout the year they are most frequently seen in the high summer, explaining why they’re also known as the “Christmas Butterfly”. Females lay eggs singly on the tops of leaves, the eggs hatching only a few days later. Their larvae can become pests in citrus orchards, Citrus-plants being just one of several related food plants utilised by this widely distributed species. Adults feed on nectar and rotting fruit.

There seems to be butterflies everywhere you look in the forest – these are mating Citrus Swallowtails

Citrus Swallowtail

Brown-veined White

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Belenois aurota

The Brown-veined White could probably be South Africa’s most commonly seen butterfly, occurring throughout the year and migrating in their millions between December and February away from areas of overcrowding in the arid west towards the Mozambique Channel, laying batches of around 20 eggs at their point of departure and along the way as they go. The Shepherd’s Tree is the preferred larval food plant for this species here in South Africa, but they are also found over most of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and across Arabia and the Indian subcontinent where other members of the Caper plant-family would be important food sources. Adults, with a wingspan of about 4.5cm, feed on nectar and, while they are strong fliers, often pause at wet soil and mud for a drink.

Bontle’s also home to other beauties – this is a Brown-veined White butterfly

Brown-veined White

Brown-veined Whites

Brown-veined White

Brown Veined White

Brown-veined White

African Monarch

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Danaus chrysippus orientis

The African Monarch is one of our most commonly seen butterflies, flying throughout the year and occurring in every corner of our country. Furthermore they’re widespread over the rest of Africa, the Indian Ocean islands, large tracts of Asia and Australia, where they are known as the “Plain Tiger”. These butterflies prefer more open habitats, are regularly seen in parks and gardens, and fly rather slowly, settling often on flowers or wilted plants.

Females lay eggs singly on their favourite larval food plants from the Milkweed family (especially the genuses Asclepias, Ceropegia, Stapelia and Huernia). Their metamorphosis from egg to butterfly takes from 4 to 6 weeks depending on the local climate. Adults are medium-sized butterflies, with a wingspan of between 5 and 8cm, and feed on nectar and alkaloids from damaged or dying plants. Their colouration serves as warning to predators that this butterfly is foul-tasting (likely resulting from their feeding on milkweeds as larvae), and as a result several other kinds of more palatable butterflies mimic the same colours and patterns. They live for up to two weeks in their adult form.

African Monarch

African Monarch – With so many flowers in bloom, the abundance of butterflies is no surprise

Bontle’s also home to other beauties, like this African Monarch

African Monarch

African Monarch butterflies and an incoming wasp

African Monarch butterfly

African Monarch

African Monarch butterflies

Beautiful Butterfly Bounty!

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One would be forgiven for expecting that the most memorable experience of a visit to the Kruger National Park would entail one of the big, charismatic mammals exhibiting some or other fascinating behaviour: a pride of lions making a kill, an elephant cow giving birth or a thousand-strong herd of buffalo stampeding to a waterhole, for instance. However, as I found out during my solo visit to the Kruger Park at the end of May, a bounty of beautiful butterflies can easily make those hairy-and-scary creatures fade into the background! In both Pretoriuskop and Skukuza Rest Camps I found blooming Lowveld Bittertea bushes (Gymnanthemum coloratum) and the surrounding gardens and lawns attended by literally hundreds of butterflies of at least 28 different species! They kept me busy and entertained for quite some time and I hope this gallery of pictures convey at least a sense of this awesome experience.

African Leopard

African Monarch butterfly

African Monarch butterflies and an incoming wasp

African Monarch butterflies

Common Smoky Blue

African Migrant

Black-striped Hairtail

Blue Pansy

Common Diadem

Common Hottentot Skipper (male)

Common Orange Tip (male)

Dancing Acraea

Layman butterfly

Spotted Joker

Squinting Bush Brown

Striped Policeman

Two-pip Policeman (butterfly)

Two-pip Policeman

Common (or Eastern) Scarlet

Robust Hoppers

Robust Hopper

Lowveld Grass Yellow

Sulphur Orange Tip

Ant-heap White

African Common White

Brown Veined White

Two-pip Policeman

Common Dotted Border

Window Acraea

Light Red Acraea

Lowveld Grass Yellow

Dusky Acraea (butterfly)

White-barred Acraea

Yellow Pansy

Of course, the butterflies were not the only insects making good use of the proliferation of winter flowers, and various other insects, most notably bees and wasps, were to be seen in attendance. A few dragonflies and birds then also made use of the opportunity to catch an easy meal on the wing.

Swarm of honey bees

Carpenter Bee

Dangerously armed wasp

Colourful wasp

Just look at the stinger on that wasp!

Julia Skimmer Dragonfly

Two weeks later we returned to the Kruger Park, this time to Shingwedzi Rest Camp about 280km north of Skukuza. Here we found fewer butterflies – perhaps winter had set in now, with nighttime temperatures especially being on the cold side – but there were still enough of them flitting around to keep us thoroughly engaged while spending the midday hours in camp.