Dira clytus

Cape autumn widow
D. clytus depicted in Seitz's Fauna Africana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Dira
Species:	D. clytus
Binomial name
Dira clytus (Linnaeus, 1764)
Range of D. clytus in southernmost South Africa
Synonyms
Papilio clytusLinnaeus, 1764 Leptoneura clytus(Linnaeus, 1764) Papilio tisiphonevon Rottemburg, 1775

Dira clytus, the Cape autumn widow, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in South Africa. ^[1]

The wingspan is 45–55 mm. Adults of ssp. clytus are on wing from late February to April and of ssp. eurina from late February to late March. There is one generation per year. ^[2]

The larvae feed on various Poaceae species, including Ehrharta erecta , Pennisetum clandestinum , Stipa dregeana , Panicum deustrum , Stenotaphrum glabrum and Stenotaphrum secundatum .

Subspecies

• Dira clytus clytus — south-western Cape
• Dira clytus eurinaQuickelberge, 1978 — southern Cape

References

1. Dira at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN   978-1-86872-724-7.