Leptotes (pirithous)

This is possibly the Common Zebra Blue and as its name implies is the most common of the genus in South Africa. It also has a distinctive rather zebra like underside. It is impossible from a picture to tell the different species apart.. I found this beautifully marked specimen at Cumberland. It has a catholic taste of food-plant which includes Plumbago auriculata. This plant (below) in our garden was always an attraction for the butterfly.
   

Telchinia: the genus

I have found four species of Telchinia in our area. Two are very common: T. enecedon -(1) and T. encedon -(2), and T. esebria (1)) and T. esebria - (forms). The other two are less so: T. cabira and T. serena which I have posted consecutively. The last two share the food plants Hibiscus, Triumfetta and Hermannia spp.

Because of the recent revision of the genus, I looked this all up and hope I have got my facts right. The history is something like this:
Fabricius was a pupil of Linne. One of the many genera he created within his masters "all generic" Papilio was the Acraea in 1807 using Linne's P. hortus as the type species (TS).

As early as 1819 Hubner, realising the polyphyletic nature of the group, created two additional genera. One was Actinote (TS P. thalia Linnaeus 1758) for the neo-tropical group. The other was Telchinia (TS P. serena Fabricius 1775) for the African group.
This African group seems to have followed the generic path:
Acraea Fabricius 1807 TS P. hortus Linnaeus 1764
Telchinia Hubner 1819 TS P. serena
Hyalites Doubleday 1848 TS P. lycia Fabricius = A. encedon (Linnaeus 1758)

Having then been lumped with Actinote it appears now to have been split off to Telchinia.

See: Andrew Brower (TolWeb), and Wikipedia on Acraeas

I have put in pictures of two of our indigenous Hibiscus. I don't know if these are used as food plants, but thought they might brighten up this posting.

 

Acraea eponina

I have placed Acraea eponina under Telchinia serena (Fabricius 1775.)

Telchinia serena

Oh dear, the joys of systematics. Not only has this genus been revised a few times but now also the specific name (eponina to serena.) And so even the common name had to be changed from the Small Orange Acraea to the Dancing Acraea. I have followed the present SABCA taxonomy. In this case this butterfly would be the type species for the genus Telchinia.

At the top are two different females, attractively coloured. The bottom two photographs are of the same male in the KZN-NBG. His colours are quite remarkable.

    

Telchinia (Acraea) cabira

The Yellow-banded Acraea: I found this young specimen in our garden on an overcast April afternoon. It has lovely markings, particularly on the underside. Originally described as Acraea cabira Hopffer 1855, it was subsequently revised to genus Hyalites (the Bitter Acraeas), and now recently to Telchinia, a genus first introduced by Hubner in 1819.
I have promised myself to take a photo of Hermannia sp, and do a posting on the genera Acraea, Hyalites and  Telchinia.
    

Melantis leda helena

The Evening or Twilight Brown. Above a view on a misty morning of the causeway above the cascade in the KZN-NBG. It was here that I have my only record of this butterfly. I had only one other sighting, also in the NBG, but trying to get that photograph led to a headlong plunge into a stream! It seems not all that common here or else it is well camouflaged in dead leaves. Like so many other Browns, the food-plants are grasses. Presumably the reference to Leda again is to Leda and the Swan, and helena to their daughter Helen of Troy.

Azanus moriqua

The Thorn-tree Blue: The top one taken at Bisley, the bottom one drinking from a damp patch in the NBG. The underside is distinctly marked and has a rather ashen hue.
See also Azanus the genus