Eronia leda (Boisduval, 1847)

Liseki, Steven D. & Vane-Wright, Richard I., 2014, Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: family Pieridae, subfamily Pierinae, Journal of Natural History 48 (25 - 26), pp. 1543-1583 : 1562-1563

Eronia leda (Boisduval, 1847)

Larsen 1996: pl. 6, figs 44 i,ii. d’ Abrera 1997: 71 (4 figs). SI: Figure 23e–h.

Forewing length: male 25.5–30.5 mm (mean (n = 7) 27.79 mm, SD = 1.798); female 28–31.5 mm (mean (n = 6) 29.65 mm, SD = 0.878).

Note: Nazari et al. (2011) placed this species in the resurrected monobasic genus Afrodryas Stoneham, 1957 , but we have not accepted this change (see Discussion).

Records. Found in various habitats from near sea level to 2100 m in Mpanda, Kigoma, Northern Highlands, Uluguru Mts, Mwanihana, Rubeho Mts, Pugu Hills and Masagati Forest ( Kielland 1990, p.55). In the BMNH there are several specimens from Kilimanjaro, including a male from Ngare-Nairobi collected by B. Cooper at 4000–5000 ft, and a female from Old Moshi (SI: Figure 21g,h). Recorded from Taveta by Rogers (1913, p.99), and from the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro by Aurivillius (1910a, p.12). On this basis we include this species as a member of the lower slopes fauna, not having been encountered in the forest reserve area by Liseki (2009). Beyond Tanzania this butterfly has been recorded from Nigeria (northeast), Chad, Sudan (south), Ethiopia (south), Kenya, DRC (Kivu, Shaba, Haut-Lomani, Lualaba, Haut-Katanga, Tanganika), Zambia, Namibia (north), Zimbabwe, Botswana (north), Angola, Mozambique, parts of South Africa and Swaziland.

Males appear always to be bright yellow with orange tips. Females vary considerably, including male-like forms, others are almost all yellow with faint markings at the forewing apex, or with a more darkened forewing apex (f. “inargyrata”), yet others are whitish (f. “cygnophila”). Pale, whitish females never seem to have orange tips.