Pontia helice johnstonii (Crowley, 1887)

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 : 1564-1565

Pontia helice johnstonii (Crowley, 1887)

Larsen 1996: pl. 9, figs 87 i,ii. d’ Abrera 1997: 101 (2 figs). SI: Figure 26a–d. Forewing length: male 22–26.5 mm (mean (n = 7) 24.70 mm, SD = 1.180); female 23– 26.5 mm (mean (n = 7) 24.44 mm, SD = 0.802).

Records. Mufindi, West Usambara and Northern Highlands, in open grasslands and bush at 1500–2200 m elevation ( Kielland 1990, p.63). Based on 14 specimens collected by Johnston, this butterfly was recorded from “Kilima-njaro, wooded, rocky, and cultivated ground, grassy downs, at 4000 to 5,500 feet, July and August” ( Godman 1885, p.539, as Pieris hellica ), noting that it differed slightly in coloration from “the examples in our own collection”. Two years later Crowley described Synchloe johnstonii [sic] based on material from the same source. A pair in OUMNH were collected on the slopes of Kilimanjaro in September 1905, at about 5000 ft, by K. St Aubyn Rogers. Aurivillius (1910a, p.11), based on the fieldwork of Sjöstedt, recorded this butterfly from Kibongoto, flying up to at least 1200 m. This species, not encountered by Liseki (2009) at 2000 m or above, is included here as a member of the lower slopes fauna, flying below the main forest zone at c. 1200–1800 m.

Beyond Tanzania, subspecies johnstonii occurs in grassy areas in the highlands of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DRC (Kivu and Ituri). The nominate race flies from eastern Zimbabwe south to Cape Province ( Ackery et al. 1995, p.210). There is slight sexual dimorphism and minor variation in this species, but in appearance compared with most other regional Pierinae this is a constant and distinctive butterfly.