Leptosia alcesta
| African Wood White | |
|---|---|
 ![]()  | |
| Mabibi, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa | |
 ![]()  | |
| underside | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia | 
| Phylum: | Arthropoda | 
| Class: | Insecta | 
| Order: | Lepidoptera | 
| Family: | Pieridae | 
| Tribe: | Anthocharini | 
| Genus: | Leptosia | 
| Species: | L. alcesta | 
| Binomial name | |
|  Leptosia alcesta (Stoll, [1782])[1]  | |
| Synonyms | |
  | |
The African Wood White or Flip Flop (Leptosia alcesta) is a butterfly of the Pieridae family, found in Africa.[1]
The wingspan is 30–40 mm in males and 35–42 mm in females. The adults fly year-round, peaking from March to May.[2]
The larva feed on Richea species, Capparis fascicularis, and Capparis brassii.[2]
- 
_in_flight.jpg)
in flight
 - 
_face.jpg)
worn specimen appears to represent a face
 
Subspecies
- Leptosia alcesta alcesta (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo)
 - Leptosia alcesta inalcesta Bernardi, 1959 (Uganda, southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland)
 - Leptosia alcesta pseudonuptilla Bernardi, 1959 (Democratic Republic of Congo to Ethiopia)
 - Leptosia alcesta sylvicola (Boisduval, 1833) (Madagascar)
 
References
- 1 2 Leptosia alcesta, funet.fi
 - 1 2 Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town:Struik Publishers, 2005.
 
External links
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, October 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.
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_underside.jpg)