Pseudacraea lucretia gamae Joicey & Talbot, 1927. Two males from Principe Island. This island is off the coast of western Africa. I have seen this listed as a species (Pseudacraea gamae), rather than a subspecies. This is in “Butterflies of the World” Part 16. Nymphalidae VII, Pseudacraea. By Ja...

This Pseudacraea is not living up to its name since it is mimicking a Danaidae species -- Danaus chrysippus. These specimens were collected by a friend in the area around Mufulira which is in the copperbelt area of Zambia. The two on the left are males and the two right side ones are females. The sp...

Thank you daveuk. You asked if they were self-collected. No, they have been sent to me by collector colleagues and by other local collectors. They originate from several different African countries. When the genus is taxonomically placed in the drawers the locality information will be clarified.

You have opened up a minefield with this genus!
The genus certainly lives up to its name. This box contains specimens recently off the setting boards before starting to be sorted and identified. This genus is very complex.

I hope this drawer helps to clarify the point mentioned by Cabintom

Thank you Trehopr1 and daveuk for your kind and encouraging remarks.
The whole of the Colotis collection occupies 12 drawers, the above being a selected three.

I find that when studying forms and colour variations within the same species and also between similar species it is much easier if they are seen side by side, rather than just as individual specimens. For example, have I got the specimens in these drawers in their correct places? DSC00443.JPG DSC00...

The island of Socotra, situated off the coast of Yemen, contains many endemic species and subspecies. Most of these hard to obtain and relatively unknown. I was fortunate to have this pair of Belenois anomala offered to me by the person who collected them.

In Ethiopia there is a related species Pieris brassicoides. This is a male and female of this species, There is also an isolated subspecies in North Tanzania.

A few years ago P brassicae became introduced into South Africa. It has now become established as a breeding species around Cape Town and along the southern coast areas. This photo shows a selection of specimens collected in southern Africa, two males on the left and females on the right. The top le...

Cymothoe can also be found on Madagascar. Here is a picture of a Cymothoe lambertoni male. I do not, unfortunately, have a female.

This picture shows the undersides of the previous specimens.

The genus Cymithoe is not confined to the rainforests of central Africa but can also be found in other parts of Africa, as far south as South Africa. Here is a photo of Cymothoe alcimeda showing a male and three forms of the female. There are several subspecies of C alcimeda found in southern Africa...

aaVIC 6 mod.JPG As far as I am aware subspecies aequatoriana is found in the Imatong Mountains and also listed from Kitgum, north Uganda. The photo attached is a quick picture of my collection of this species and shows five males (Column 4, top five specimens) from Agoro Forest, north Uganda. In th...