Afrodryas leda

[daveuk]

Pair from South Africa. Recto & verso
Previously Eronia leda

[Cabintom]

Here's a pair from NE DRC (practically S. Sudan/Uganda):

(male)


(female)


The silvery HW spots can get quite large in some specimens.

From "Afrotropical Butterflies and Skippers":
"Very fast-flighted and restless, usually from two to three metres above the ground. Settles occasionally to feed from flowers (especially Maerua), but usually only for a few seconds (Pringle et al., 1994). Rarely mudpuddles (Kielland, 1990d; Larsen, 2005a)."
It's habits make it a difficult species to net, especially for someone like me who has grown used to the confines of forest trails which at least make it predictable where the speedsters are going to be. Out in open savanna, having one of these fly by within reach is mostly luck. That is, until you figure out which tree or bush or patch of flowers "distracts" them and will cause them to pause for those few seconds. Usually, in my experience, it's something full of thorns. So you've got one chance at a swing, at a swift & nervous moving target, and if you're not careful you'll get your net all mangled up in thorns.

[daveuk]

I have quite a few males & a couple of females from Uganda which are similar to the one in your photograph.
This male from Kenya is more richly coloured than my South African & Ugandan specimens. Also slightly more rounder in wing shape.