Cymothoe excelsa pair from Cameroun & male photographed with data

This is an especially nice thread on a genus of butterflies I have always enjoyed seeing in the pages of books. I've never had opportunity to acquire any of them myself because these have largely been absent from most dealer lists here over the years !

Many nice species pictured here. Although ...

Colotis evagore antigone. Uganda. Two males (?)
Colotis evenina casta. Tanzania. A male & two female forms
Colotis euippe omphale. South Africa. Two males

Thank You for all that information. It seems a lot of revision has been done on the genus which I am completely unaware of. For instance I thought hildebrandtii a full species. I have just one imperfect male specimen of that one. My late friend Danny Burke had a whole series in his collection ...

Colotis danae
South Africa.
A pair shown recto & verso & a larger male with data

Colotis elgonensis. Uganda.
I have four specimens of subspecies kenia(?)
Three specimens have purple spots on forewing tips. One does not. Am presuming this one could be a female.
All specimens shown recto & two shown verso with data.

The pink variation of Pieris brassicae (ab. carnea) is truly spectacular.
The aberration became known through a 1930 breeding stock from Aberdeen/UK.

Source: http://www.britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk/species/pieris-brassicae/aberrations


I only posted a picture of my female before. Here are ...

A male Colotis regina from Tanzania. Believe this is my largest specimen of regina. At some angles the tips appear almost black but at other angles the tips glow. Have taken a photo at an angle to display this wonderful display of colours.

I do find C zoe & C regina really beautiful but for some reason I find C protomedia even more pleasing to the eye. Particularly the verso.
A shame you can't get safely to places where this genus flies. I envy you having seen some alive.
A pair of C antevippe zera from Uganda & a male C antevippe ...

Colotis protomedia
A pair recto & verso. Uganda
Male verso with no data.
The aptly named Yellow Splendour. If I had to choose a favourite Colotis this would probably be it.

Lovely specimens & thanks for the information re eris. To be fair it does not really resemble any other Colotis species.
Agree with you entirely about the variability within this genus. I had job lot boxes of Pierids from Uganda a few years back containing a number of Colotis species. Though they ...

Colotis chrysonome. Two males. Uganda
Colotis aurigineus. Male recto & verso. Tanzania
Colotis eris. Two males Uganda

Colotis vesta princeps. Pair recto & verso. Uganda

Colotis vesta argillaceus. Male recto & verso. South Africa

As you may have gathered I still haven't quite grasped how to put quotes to replies. Apologies for that. Thankyou Cabintom once again for all the information you have provided on C celimine. I have at least two more specimes of this species. Will photograph them when I get to the box they are in ...

I'm not sure about the female, but your male Colotis ione from South Africa looks more like C. erone to me. What's the data for that pair?


Picture of the pair again with data


Thanks for your input yet again.That is good news as far as I am concerned. C erone is or was missing from my ...

Colotis celimene. Pair recto & verso
Male from Kenya. Female from Uganda. One of the more rarely encountered species in collections.

Two pairs of Colotis hetaera from Uganda. Subspecies aspasia

Your "aberration of B. calypso " is B. subeida , either the nominate or ssp. frobeniusi (although the latter is known from N. Cameroon, and not CAR).


Thanks once again for the identification on that one. How good it is to have someone with a wealth of knowledge about African butterflies on this ...

Cabintom wrote: Mon Aug 29, 2022 11:45 am I'm not sure about the female, but your male Colotis ione from South Africa looks more like C. erone to me. What's the data for that pair?

Picture of the pair again with data

Belenois calypso
Male & two females shown recto & verso.
Male described as an " abberation" of B calypso
All Republic Central Africa