Red List of South African Species

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Rare
Assessors: Steve Woodhall
Facilitators: Mark Williams
Reviewers: Silvia Kirkman Domitilla Raimondo Rolf Oberprieler

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria)

A rare, low density taxon occurring over a wide area of KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa and also in southern Mozambique (EOO 32 659 km<sup>2</sup>). Many of its known subpopulations are in protected areas and have recently been found to be thriving and mostly under little threat at present. Only one of these, in Ndumu, is under threat of shifting agriculture and bush clearance due to land invasion. The whole of Maputaland is under a possible future threat of deltamethrin spraying for Tsetse Fly, but this is unlikely to occur in the near future. There may well be more subpopulations than indicated by the current data because it is seldom seen on the wing and probably remains under-sampled, especially in southern Mozambique. Most adults are recorded from rearing larvae found on the host plants. It is a rare butterfly whose host plant is uncommon. The taxon thus qualifies globally under the IUCN criteria as Least Concern and is nationally classified as Rare (Low Density).

Distribution

This taxon is found in KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, from Durban in the south, Weenen in the west to Ndumo in the north. Also from Xai Xai in southern Mozambique.

Decline

The host plant community at Mandawe was destroyed by citrus farming. The Ndumu subpopulation is under threat from human encroachment and slash-and-burn agriculture. The Xai Xai population is in an area popular for tourism development.

Population trend

Trend

The number of subpopulations includes the ones whose position is inaccurately known, at Weenen and Durban. The subpopulation below Mandawe near Eshowe has been destroyed by farming, the other, also reported as extinct in the 2013 assessment, from Dukaneni siding was found to have survived. Also there are several well established subpopulations inside protected areas, and there are likely to be many more hitherto undiscovered subpopulations.

Threats

The subpopulations in most nature reserves are not under threat, except that in Ndumo where slash and burn agriculture and a land claim threaten the reserve. Farming (citrus orchards and bush cutting to allow cattle to graze) has eliminated one known locality, near Mandawe Hill. Uncontrolled land use change and habitat destruction are the major threats to populations in unprotected areas. The subpopulation at Xai Xai in Mozambique is subject to threats of tourism development. The populations in Maputaland face a possible future threat of deltamethrin spraying to control tsetse fly, in preparation for sterile male release (A. Armstrong, pers. comm., and www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/ipc/tsetse-flies.html).

Conservation

This taxon is not threatened but its host plant is uncommon. Where it grows outside protected areas, it may be under threat from agriculture and human encroachment.

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,
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 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 = {South Africa Red Data Book - Butterflies.},
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}
,@book{893,
 author = {Williams, M.C.},
 publisher = {CD-ROM. Available from the author at mark.williams[at]up.ac.za.},
 title = {Butterflies and skippers of the Afrotropical Region.},
 year = {2016}
}
,@book{10844,
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,@article{10844,
 author = {Edge, D.A.},
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 volume = {1},
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,@book{10844,
 author = {Congdon, C. & Collins, S.},
 publisher = {African Butterfly Research Institute & Union des Entomologistes Belges, Nairobi & Tervuren,},
 title = {Kielland’s butterflies of Tanzania. Supplement.},
 year = {1998}
}
,@article{10844,
 author = {Congdon, C. & Bampton, I. },
 journal = {Metamorphosis},
 pages = {33--42},
 title = {Provisional notes on the foodplants of the <i>Iolaini</i>  (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea, Lycaenidae).},
 volume = {11},
 year = {2000}
}
,]
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