More Uganda niceties....

[Trehopr1]

All of the following specimens were kindly "gifted
to me this past summer by a good friend and member
here on the forum. Finally, I have been able to delve
in to this rich supply of fantastic butterflies.

Each and every species seems so diffrent from the next
(or previous one) that I have to say that Uganda surely
offers ONE of the MOST diverse fauna in all of
Africa.

Here, I show just a few (with more to come); along
with data.


Pseudoneptis bugandensis ianthe
Rakai, Sango Bay -- June 2016


Aterica galene (male)
Rakai, Sango Bay -- June 2016


Junonia terea
Bushenyi, Kalinzu Forest -- June 2016


Belenois sudanensis
Bushenyi, Kayonza Forest -- June 2016


*Unidentified Species....
Moroto, Kokilokit -- July 2016

The identifications were given by my friend
and should be accurate however, the last
specimen was not shown to him so, any help
would be appreciated.

[Cabintom]

Your unidentified specimen is Belenois solilucis. Flip it over, the base of the HWs should have very little to no orange, which would confirm it as ssp. loveni.

[Cabintom]

Each and every species seems so diffrent from the next
(or previous one) that I have to say that Uganda surely
offers ONE of the MOST diverse fauna in all of
Africa.

Uganda is decent for butterfly diversity. It features a good variety of different biotopes but lacks zones of endemism which can be found in the Cameroonian highlands or DRC's Mitumba Mts, for example.

[Trehopr1]

Cabintom,

Thank you so much for your help with the last unidentified species I posted.

Was wondering, if the varungas mountain range runs through Uganda (where the mountain gorillas live); then wouldn't this be a case of endemism where one would find some specific endemic species unique to only that country ?

[Cabintom]

Was wondering, if the varungas mountain range runs through Uganda (where the mountain gorillas live); then wouldn't this be a case of endemism where one would find some specific endemic species unique to only that country ?

Virunga National Park is in DRC and has the western slopes of the Rwenzori Mountains. There's not much forest left in Uganda (except what is protected in the parks), and (I'm going from memory, so I may be forgetting about a species or two) there are no species endemic to any of Uganda's south-western forests.

[Trehopr1]

Thank you Cabintom for the details to my question !

You certainly know far more about the "lay of the land" over there and you have certainly come to know your African butterflies VERY well.

Much appreciated....

[Trehopr1]

Here are a few more species exhibiting more of that
extraordinary diversity present in Uganda.

Once again, many thanks to my good friend for his
kindness in "gifting" me these specimens and for his
tireless knowledge in identifying them for me.


Appias sylvia ugandensis (male)


Belenois raffreyi extendens (male)


Junonia octavia sesamus *Wet season form....


Nepheronia thalassina verulanus (male)


Euriphene ribensis (female)


Eurytela dryope angulata


Colotis danae eupompe (male) *My first Colotis !

So, as you can see lots of variety over there. The
4th photo down of the large white peirid (Nepheronia)
can be mis-leading in its appearance as it is not
truely white but, more of a "powdery-blue/white" in
actual appearance. Quite unique....

The Colotis featured in the last photo though likely
common was a challenge indeed to set from papered.
I was given two however, abject lessons learned whilst
working with the first one enabled my 2nd one to turn
out perfectly. Just a gorgeous genus.

Also, a hearty thank you goes out to Cabintom for his
expertise in African butterflies and in any corrections
which he may see fit to make.

[Cabintom]

Also, a hearty thank you goes out to Cabintom for his
expertise in African butterflies and in any corrections
which he may see fit to make.

A note on Appias sylvia ugandensis from the Afrotropical Butterflies Encyclopaedia :

Populations of Appias sylvia occurring in western Kenya, Uganda and north western Tanzania (Minziro;
Rumanyika G.R.) are, apparently, not referable to ssp. nyasana but to the name ugandensis coined by Berger
(Larsen, 1991c: 145 ascribes authorship to Bernardi). Since Berger (?Bernardi) did not publish a description,
ugandensis is a nomen nudum. Congdon & Collins (1998: 30) give a short comparative description but do not
formally resurrect Berger’s (?Bernardi’s) name. Larsen (2005a) states that the name ugandensis Bernardi was
never validly published and that the populations of A. sylvia in Uganda and western Kenya are best considered to
belong to the nominate subspecies or to be intermediate to ssp. nyasana.

And yes, as you say, the shade of blue on the Nepheronia (particularly fresh specimens) is quite unique, as is the "silveriness" of the ventral surface.

[Trehopr1]

Here are 3 more species recently removed
from the boards. Each is a delight to have...


Cyrestis camillus --- an amazingly attractive species !


Colotis antivippe zera *my 2nd Colotis species.


Belenois creona severina

This 3rd species is actually better looking on its
verso side but, I'm not practiced at spreading leps
upside down so this is what you get.

Of note, I can say from personal experience that
considerable care needs to be taken whilst spreading
African pierids. Seems like the white scales of many
species are easily lost or altogather removed unless
"ginger" care is taken in the process. If not, wing-marring
can occur on otherwise beautiful A1 specimens !

So, work carefully but, deliberately with Pierids
especially....