Tagiades flesus

Tagiades flesus, the clouded flat, clouded forester or clouded skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae from southern Africa.

The underside of Tagiades flesus

Clouded forester
A male of the summer form
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Species:
T. flesus
Binomial name
Tagiades flesus
(Fabricius, 1781)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio flesus Fabricius, 1781
  • Papilio ophion Drury, 1782[2]
  • Tagiades flesus f. ophelia Evans, 1937

Description

The wingspan is 35โ€“47 mm for males and 43โ€“49 mm for females. The upper surface of the wings is brownish with translucent spots near the apex of the forewings. These spots are larger in the female than in the male.[3] The undersurface of the hindwings is white with a semicircle of irregular black spots. The winter form is lighter in colour than the summer form.[3]

Distribution

This species is found in forest areas from the Eastern Cape of South Africa,[3] through Eswatini and to the border of Zimbabwe.[3]

Life cycle

Eggs

Female

Single eggs are laid on the shoots of the food plants.[4]

Larvae

The larvae feed on Dioscorea species (including D. malifolia) and Grewia species. The larva makes a shelter by cutting part way through a leaf from its edge and folding it over, or by sticking two leaves together with silk.[4]

Pupae

The pupa is formed within the leaf shelter and is light brown in colour.[4]

Adults

Adults are on wing year-round; in warmer areas with peaks in late summer and autumn.[5] The males select territories and fly rapidly, with the white underside of the wings "flashing".[3] The females fly randomly throughout the forest.[3] The adults feed from flowers,[3] including those of Deinbollia oblongifolia and Tabernaemontana ventricosa.[6] These butterflies usually sit with the wings open.

References

  1. Tagiades at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Tagiades flesusโ€‹". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved April 23, 2018. Savela appears to be wrong in crediting this name to Stoll [1790].
  3. Williams, M. (1994). Butterflies of Southern Africa; A Field Guide. Southern Book Publishers. ISBN 1-86812-516-5.
  4. Woodhall, S.(2008). What's that Butterfly?. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. ISBN 978-1-77007-486-6.
  5. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  6. Purves, M. (2010)
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