Heteropsis perspicua

Heteropsis perspicua, the eyed bush brown, swamp patroller or marsh patroller, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is native to eastern and southern Africa, but a western subspecies is present in Cameroon.

Marsh patroller
Upper and underside of H. perspicua
in Seitz's Fauna Africana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Nymphalidae
Genus:
Heteropsis
Species:
H. perspicua
Binomial name
Heteropsis perspicua
(Trimen, 1873)[1]
Synonyms
  • Mycalesis perspicua Trimen, 1873
  • Henotesia perspicua
  • Mycalesis maevius Staudinger, 1888
  • Henotesia perspicua ab. submaevius Strand, 1910
  • Henotesia perspicua ab. amanica Strand, 1910

Range

It is found in KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Transvaal, Mozambique, from Zimbabwe to Kenya, in eastern Zaire and Tanzania.[2]

Description

The wingspan is 38–43 mm for males and 42–48 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round. The wet-season form is on wing in spring and summer and the dry-season form in autumn and winter.[3]

Food plants

The larvae feed on various Poaceae species, including Ehrharta erecta, Panicum maximum and Pennisetum clandestinum.

Subspecies

References
  1. Afrotropical Butterflies: File E – Nymphalidae - Subtribe Mycalesina
  2. "Heteropsis Westwood, 1850" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.


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