Mylothris sp.

Plettenberg Bay October 2006

We found this Dotted Border (I think the Common), blown about in the sea breeze in the scrub while we were walking along the Blue Rocks, Natures Valley.

Cassionympha cassius

Plettenberg Bay October 2006

We came across this butterfly in a forest clearing overlooking a magnificent view of Natures Valley. I have presumed it to be the Rain Forest Brown, a butterfly that can be sometimes be found in large numbers at Ferncliffe, but only occasionally in the NBG or at home.
 

Dixeia charina

Plettenberg Bay October 2006

The African Small white. These were photographed on our Groot River walk, deVasellot, above Natures Valley. The underside shows the typical grey-green irroration of the WSF. We also came across more on the Robberg. Apart from one doubtful one, I have no record of this butterfly from Pietermaritzburg.

     

Vanessa cardui

Plettenberg Bay: October 2006

The Painted Lady. Despite its almost cosmopolitan occurrence, it is not all that common in Pietermaritzburg. On  this visit to Plettenberg Bay we witnessed a large migration: as a Parks board official mentioned: "all the way he had travelled from Uniondale." Mandy also commented that on her way up to us from Cape Town that she had driven through it: lots of road kill!


One was ovipositing on a Cape dandelion (Arctotheca calendula) one of its many food plants: I was lucky enough to find the egg.









See also Vanessa cardui (2)

Pontia Helice

Plettenberg Bay; October 2006

Despite its wide distribution, the Meadow White is uncommon in the Pietermaritzburg area: I have only two records from here, one in the garden and the other at Bisley. We came across it frequently on our visit to Plettenburg Bay, one even settled on Merle's shirt while we were walking.
The top a female from Groot River walk, deVasselot, Tsitsikamma National park, Nature's Valley. The second a male from the bottom of Witsand, Robberg, and the bottom (underside) from the scrub along Blue Rocks, again Nature's Valley.
 

Lachnocnema sp.

So aptly named: unmistakably the Woolly Legs, probably the Common. I came across this tiny butterfly at Bisley, clutching onto a grass stalk. It is my only record, possibly I have missed many on account of their samll size. I was lucky enough to catch the lighting on the silvery scales. Interestingly the larvae are carnivorous,  feeding on plant lice. I'm not sure why Fabricius (1793) gave it the specific name "bibulus" (the drinker); did he know that the adults do feed on the honeydew of the plant lice?

Danaus chrysippus

A delightful female African Monarch at Bisley.