Teracolus eris eris (Klug, 1829)

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 : 1545

Teracolus eris eris (Klug, 1829)

Larsen 1996: pl. 8, figs 71 i,ii. d’ Abrera 1997: 87 (4 figs). SI: Figure 2a–h.

Forewing length: male 24–27 mm (mean (n = 6) 25.32 mm, SD = 1.042); female 21– 27 mm (mean (n = 11) 25.32 mm, SD = 1.496).

Records. Occurs in savannah, Miombo woodland and open bush throughout Tanzania, at elevations from 250 to 2300 m ( Kielland 1990, p.57). There are old specimens from the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro in the BMNH, including a male collected by F.J. Jackson, and three females from nearby Taveta ( Kenya) collected by K. St Aubyn Rogers in the OUMNH. There is nothing to indicate that this species ascends into the forest zone on Kilimanjaro. The nominate race of this distinctive species is very widespread throughout arid areas of Africa, with separate subspecies recognized in parts of Arabia and South Africa ( Ackery et al. 1995).

The males, although variable, are recognizable by the brownish apical area of the forewing upperside that encloses a series of golden or ochre-coloured spots (responsible for its common name of “gold tip”). Females are variable: some are fairly male-like but with a dull brownish forewing tip with pale spots, sometimes they are very lightly marked, and some have a bright yellow ground colour instead of white or off-white (both white and yellow forms are represented in the small sample in OUMNH). Van Son (1949, p.163) gives a key to four named forms of males and of females.