Rationale
(Changed due to Same category and criteria)
Endemic to the Wolkberg centre of endemism in Limpopo Province in South Africa (EOO 238 km<sup>2</sup>, AOO 32 km<sup>2</sup>), this taxon is known from four locations that are under threat from afforestation and unseasonal fires. The taxon is an altitudinal specialist and climate change could pose a future threat. The taxon thus qualifies globally under the IUCN criteria as Endangered under criterion B.
Distribution
Endemic to Limpopo Province in South Africa, in the Wolkberg at Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve near Tzaneen in the south to just south of Haenertsburg in the north.
Decline
The butterfly has not been seen at the MOME Hill locaility for a number of years. This could be due to a change in the habitat utilization or due to climatic issues.
Known from four subpopulations: Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve, Farm Boshoff, Haenertsburg and Serala. Each of these subpopulations constitute separate locations.
Threats
As this taxon occurs in the Mesic Highveld Grassland Bioregion its habitat is vulnerable to fires (both wildfires and human induced fires), as well as to droughts and possibly global temperature changes. Due to the steep slopes that the butterfly prefers, and the fact that some of the colonies are in a nature reserve, it is unlikely that human development (apart from afforestation) will be a threat in the near future. However, it is likely that afforestation in the past has resulted in habitat loss. Due to the species being an altitudinal specialist, it is possible that climate change could have an impact in the future, however, the nature of this impact is currently unknown.
Conservation
Because of its very restricted range, further research into this species and its distribution, as well as careful monitoring of the status of its subpopulations, is recommended. Two of the subpopulations fall in the Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve, but even here a habitat management plan, which includes an appropriate fire regime, is required to protect the ecological processes required by this taxon.
[@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}
}
,@article{772,
author = {SANBI},
journal = {South African National Biodiversity Institute},
pages = {0},
title = { Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland [vector geospatial dataset] 2012. Available from the Biodiversity GIS website.},
volume = {0},
year = {2012}
}
,@book{893,
author = {Williams, M.C.},
publisher = {CD-ROM. Available from the author at mark.williams[at]up.ac.za.},
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year = {2016}
}
,@article{160889,
author = {Henning, G.A. & Henning, S.F.},
journal = {Metamorphosis},
number = {4.0},
pages = {153--172},
title = {A review of the genus Dingana Van Son (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) with descriptions of a new genus, three new species and three new subspecies.},
volume = {7},
year = {1996}
}
,]
