Mylothris rueppellii tirikensis (Neave, 1904)

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 : 1575

Mylothris rueppellii tirikensis (Neave, 1904)

Larsen 1996: pl. 11, figs 110 i,ii. d’ Abrera 1997: 117 (4 figs). SI: Figure 36e–j.

Forewing length: male 24–29 mm (mean (n = 5) 27.26 mm, SD = 1.641); female 25–30 mm (mean (n = 6) 27.87 mm, SD = 1.776).

Records. Pare Mts and Northern Highlands including Loliondo, in heavy woodland, forest margins and open forest, at c. 600–2000 m elevation ( Kielland 1990, p.68). Kielland did not cite specific records for the Northern Highlands, but material in the BMNH (from 4000–5000 ft collected by B. Cooper, and from Old Moshi collected by Selous) confirms its presence. This species has been reported as apparently migrating in large numbers near Moshi, in June 1928 ( Williams 1930, p.158). Rogers (1908, p.537) noted one female (as “ M. poppea ”) from Kilimanjaro collected in January 1906; Aurivillius (1910a, p.11) recorded this butterfly in the Kibongoto area, up to 1800 m, during May, September and October. There are several specimens from the slopes of Kilimanjaro and from Taveta in OUMNH. Liseki (2009) observed this species on Kilimanjaro from March to November, at 2000 m.

There is variation in the amount and extent of yellow and orange flushing to the fore and hindwing bases – and this can lead to uncertainties over identification (see under M. superbus , below). Females are male-like or yellowish, probably dimorphic. Beyond Tanzania subspecies tirikensis occurs in Uganda and the Kenya highlands. The species occurs throughout much of eastern Africa, in a series of races from Ethiopia to South Africa, extending to the west as far as southeastern Angola ( Ackery et al. 1995, p.223). Like M. kilimensis , on Kilimanjaro M. rueppellii appears primarily to be a denizen of the lower slopes, just entering the margin of the forest zone at around 2000 m.