Mylothris agathina agathina (Cramer, 1779)

Liseki, Steven D. & Vane-Wright, Richard I., 2014, Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: family Pieridae, subfamily Pierinae, Journal of Natural History 48 (25 - 26), pp. 1543-1583 : 1573

Mylothris agathina agathina (Cramer, 1779)

Larsen 1996: pl. 11, figs 105 i,ii. d’ Abrera 1997: 113 (3 figs). SI: Figure 34g –j.

Forewing length: male 29–35 mm (mean (n = 5) 32.08 mm, SD = 1.921); female 28.5–35 mm (mean (n = 7) 31.84 mm, SD = 1.908).

Records. Kielland (1990, p.65) considered this butterfly to be widespread throughout Tanzania, occurring in deciduous woodlands, forest margins and clearings, even gardens, from sea level to 2200 m. Rogers (1908, p.537) recorded a single female from Kilimanjaro, collected 26–31 January 1906, apparently at about 5000 ft elevation (c. 1600 m); this specimen, together with several males and females from Taveta, is preserved at OUMNH. One male and three females were reported from Kibongoto, Kilimanjaro, by Aurivillius (1910a, p.11), occurring at up to 1200 m, where the species was encountered in April and December. Specimens in BMNH include several from Engaruka (about 100 km west of Kilimanjaro), and a single male from Old Moshi. On this basis, M. agathina is included as part of the lower slopes fauna.

Beyond Tanzania, nominate agathina is very widespread in the eastern half of Africa, from Sudan south to South Africa. A second subspecies occurs in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Uganda and Ituri ( DRC) ( Ackery et al. 1995).

This is a dimorphic species, the male upperside ground colour being pure white, while most females are a vibrant orangey-yellow – although they can be paler, with some almost white, male-like. Females, on average, have slightly larger “dotted border” spots on the hindwings.