Melanitis leda helena Westwood, 1851

Liseki, Steven D. & Vane-Wright, Richard I., 2015, Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: Nymphalidae subfamilies Libytheinae, Danainae, Satyrinae and Charaxinae, Journal of Natural History 50, pp. 865-904 : 874

Melanitis leda helena Westwood, 1851

Larsen 1996: pl. 28, fig. 398 i – iii. d ’ Abrera 1997: 197 (1 fig.). SI: Figure e – h.

Forewing length: male 32 – 41 mm [mean (n = 6) 37.33 mm, SD = 2.840]; female 34 – 42 mm [mean (n = 9) 38.28 mm, SD = 1.902].

Records

The whole of Tanzania, in forest and savanna, including semi-arid regions, from sea level to 2000 m ( Kielland 1990, p. 77, as M. leda africana ) . Although this species varies considerably not only in coloration (most notably the underside) but also in forewing shape, it is unmistakeable in the local fauna. Not encountered on Kilimanjaro at 2000 m or above by Liseki (2009) . On the basis of two specimens from Moshi , and a specimen collected ‘ 6 miles NW of Moshi . .. May 1916 ’ in BMNH, and one male and three females from Taveta, c . 2500 ft ( OUMNH), we include this butterfly as a member of the lower slopes fauna . However, it is possible that it does occur within the lowest levels of the protected forest, its crepuscular habits often making it difficult to detect. Melanitis leda helena occurs in suitable areas throughout the whole of the Afrotropical region ; other subspecies of the Evening Brown occur in Asia and the Indo-Australian tropics .