SANBI

Rationale

A rare, seldom-encountered taxon that occurs in small, concentrated colonies in KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa as well as in southern Mozambique, where it was recently recorded for the first time (EOO 26 730 km2). Its presence at Mandawe Hill near Eshowe has been confirmed and strong colonies exist on the Nibela Peninsula. There are eight locations. The Mozambican location at Palmeiras is close to the coast, where tourist developments are popular. Its habitat is threatened in some of its locations, such as Mandawe Hill, and the area to the west of Tembe Elephant Park, which is threatened by bush clearance and shifting agriculture. The subpopulations are subject to extreme fluctuations in numbers during droughts. Most locations are not severely fragmented and there is low confidence in AOO. The butterfly's habits make it inconspicuous, so it is probably often overlooked - it may have many more hitherto undiscovered subpopulations. However, EOO is close to the Vulnerable threshold, and even if AOO is 20 times the current (uncertain) estimate, it still falls inside the Vulnerable threshold. Also, the number of locations is fewer than ten. If the Mozambique location is lost due to charcoal production the EOO will fall inside the VU threshold. The taxon thus qualifies globally under the IUCN criteria as Near Threatened under criterion B. Since the previous assessment, the discovery of new localities has increased the EOO from 9 556 km2 to 26 730 km2. The current threats also existed during the previous assessment. The Red Listing for the previous assessment was incorrectly applied and the status change from Least Concern to Near Threatened is therefore non-genuine.

Distribution

This taxon is found from Richards Bay in the south, in KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, to near Inharrime in southern Mozambique.

Decline

The subpopulations at Mandawe Hill and in Manguzi Forest are under threat from bush clearance and small scale agriculture. The subpopulations in Mozambique are under threat from tourism development and agriculture. However, most of the subpopulations in protected areas are in healthy habitat.

Habitat View more ecological information

Population trend

Trend

There are six, possibly seven, subpopulations in its known range, made up of 14 sites. Specimens are usually only seen in these during periods of good rains; during droughts they may not be seen for several years, yet the butterfly seems to survive these.

Threats

Subpopulations inside most nature reserves are under no threat with the exception of that in the Manguzi Forest Reserve, which is threatened by illegal wood harvesting. Subpopulations outside nature reserves are also under threat by human settlement, bush clearing, uncontrolled agriculture, and in Mozambique, tourism development and forest clearing for charcoal production. All subpopulations inside Maputaland are under potential future threat by insecticide spraying to reduce tsetse fly numbers to a point where sterile male release can be used to extirpate survivors. As the butterfly occupies a specialist niche, it is also vulnerable to temperature extremes and droughts.

Conservation

Continued protection of the subpopulations inside protected areas is vital, and the damage being done to Manguzi Forest by illegal wood gathering and small-scale farming must be stopped. The Mandawe Hill subpopulation is an important butterfly biodiversity site and it should be considered for protected status to prevent overgrazing and human settlement. Entities considering developing sites in Mozambique should be made aware of the possible presence of the butterfly, and urged to preserve suitable habitat. The plans to spray Maputaland with deltamethrin need to be permanently abandoned and not merely shelved.

References

[@book{772,
 address = {Johannesburg &Cape Town},
 author = {Mecenero, S., Ball, J.B., Edge, D.A., Hamer, M.L., Henning, G.A., Krüger, M., Pringle, E.L., Terblanche, R.F. & Williams, M.C. (eds)},
 publisher = {Saftronics (pty) Ltd and  Animal Demography Unit, University of Cape Town},
 title = {Conservation assessment of butterflies of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland: Red List and Atlas.},
 year = {2013}
}
,@book{772,
 address = {Pretoria},
 author = {Henning, G.A., Terblanche, R.F. & Ball, J.B. (eds)},
 publisher = {South African National Biodiversity Institute},
 title = {South African Red Data Book: butterflies. SANBI Biodiversity Series},
 year = {2009}
}
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 title = {Zululand Ahoy!},
 volume = {6},
 year = {1995}
}
,]

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