The Common Diadem: females. What remarkable examples of Batesian mimicry of the model African Monarch.
It was a hot summer mid-day in the KZN-NBG when I found these females on a patch of weeds. Tommy, my German Shepherd, sensible dog, waited patiently in the shade while I did the photography. So much for mad dogs and Englishmen.
At the top are of two mimics of two different forms of the African Monarch.
At bottom the underside of the second specimen ovipositing on purslane (Portulaca oleracea.)
The blue sheen that is caught under certain lightings is characteristic of the spp.as is also seen in my earlier posting of Hypoplimnas misippus males.
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