Red List of South African Species

Alternatively, Explore species
| National Red List categories | Partners |
Least Concern (LC)
Assessors: Jeremy Dobson Chris Dobson
Facilitators: Mark Williams
Reviewers: Silvia Kirkman Domitilla Raimondo Rolf Oberprieler

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria)

This is a relatively widespread endemic species in south Africa (EOO 16 406 km<sup>2</sup>). It appears to be fairly resistant to overgrazing and drought. It closely resembles a very common species, <i>Platylesches ayresii</i>, which is almost always present at the same sites. As a result, it has historically been overlooked. More and more localities are being discovered in recent years and its extent of occurrence has increased significantly. The taxon thus qualifies globally under the IUCN criteria as Least Concern.

Distribution

Endemic to Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo provinces in South African, from Carltonville in the south-west to Lydenberg in the north-east.

Population trend

Trend

Based on the accepted records, there are eight separate subpopulations of this species: Carletonville, Rustenburg, Bronkhorstpruit, Westonaria, Walkerville, Bela-Bela, KwaMhlanga and Verena. Each of these locations is separated by at least 20 km.

Threats

The taxon is widespread and its larval host plant, <i>Parinari capensis</i>, is relatively resistant to drought, fire and overgrazing. There do not appear to be any significant threats at present.

Conservation

Ongoing surveys should be undertaken to acquire new records for this taxon. More research is required to assess its life history, ecology, population numbers and distribution.

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}
}
,@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.},
 title = {Butterflies and skippers of the Afrotropical Region.},
 year = {2016}
}
,]
Send feedback about this assessment to SANBI

Lead agencies, Partners and Funders

See the partners page