Precis tugela, the African leaf butterfly[1] or eared commodore, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia to South Africa. It is commonly included in the genus Junonia rather than Precis.
| African leaf butterfly | |
|---|---|
| |
| In Adalbert Seitz's Fauna Africana | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Precis |
| Species: | P. tugela
|
| Binomial name | |
| Precis tugela Trimen, 1879
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The wingspan is 55–60 mm in males and 58–64 mm in females.[1]
The larvae feed on Plectranthus species and Englerastrum scandens.
Subspecies
edit- Precis tugela tugela — eastern Zimbabwe, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal
- Precis tugela aurorina (Butler, 1894) — southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, northern and eastern Tanzania, Malawi
- Precis tugela pyriformis (Butler, 1896) — western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, north-western Tanzania, northern Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kivu, Shaba, Lomami, Lualaba
References
edit- ^ a b Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
