Precis tugela

{{Short description|Species of butterfly}}

{{Redirect|African leaf butterfly|the other butterfly with this common name|Kallimoides{{!}}Kallimoides rumia}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = African leaf butterfly

| image = SeitzFaunaAfricanaXIIITaf51, Precis tugela.jpg

| image_caption = In Adalbert Seitz's Fauna Africana

| taxon = Precis tugela

| authority = Trimen, 1879

| synonyms =

  • Junonia tugela
  • Junonia aurorina Butler, 1894
  • Junonia pyriformis Butler, 1896

}}

Precis tugela, the African leaf butterfly{{cite book|last=Woodhall |first=Steve |title=Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa |year=2005 |location=Cape Town, South Africa |publisher=Struik |isbn=978-1-86872-724-7 }} or eared commodore, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia to South Africa. It is commonly included in the genus Junonia rather than Precis.

The wingspan is 55–60 mm in males and 58–64 mm in females.

The larvae feed on Plectranthus species and Englerastrum scandens.

Subspecies

  • Precis tugela tugela — eastern Zimbabwe, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal
  • Precis tugela aurorina (Butler, 1894) — southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, northern and eastern Tanzania, Malawi
  • Precis tugela pyriformis (Butler, 1896) — western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, north-western Tanzania, northern Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kivu, Shaba, Lomami, Lualaba

References