ID Kenyan skipper

[Kathleen Moon]

"Stanley L. Cabigas" wrote:
> 
> I don't think that this is a skipper. Must be a Danaid of genus Danaus.
> Probably D. chrysippus chrysippus Linnaeus.
> 
> Stanley
> juwaki at pacific.net.ph

Not being familiar with the Kenyan fauna, I can only hazard a guess, but
judging by illustration in Williams' Field Guide to the Butterflies of
Africa (a 1971 Houghton Mifflin edition which I picked up at a used book
sale some time ago), that is probably what it is, but I still have my
doubts: unless the butterfly in Cameron's picture is backlit, the colors
don't match very well.  Either way, Williams says it occurs all over the
Ethiopian region and flies year-round except in the colder parts of its
range, where its flight is restricted to October through May.  Its
larval hosts are among the Asclepiadaceae, and the "accepted" common
name is listed as the African monarch.

I hope this helps.

Pierre A Plauzoles
ae779 at lafn.org

> -----Original Message-----
> From:   owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu] On
> Behalf Of Cameron
> Sent:   Tuesday, June 01, 1999 11:28 AM
> To:     leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> Subject:        ID Kenyan skipper
> 
> http://members.xoom.com/CJNickerson/kenya.htm
> There's a Kenyan fluttery on this page, can anyone tell me what it is?