''Amauris ochlea'', the novice, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. It is found in southern and south-east

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 55–60 mm for males and 60–65 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round (with peaks in summer and autumn). The larvae feed on '' Tylophora anomala'', ''

Tylophora stolzii ''Tylophora'' is a former genus of climbing plants or vines, first described as a genus in 1810. The genus was originally erected by Robert Brown for four species he described in Australia. It was synonymized with ''Vincetoxicum'' in 2018, a deci ...

'', '' Gymnema'', ''

Marsdenia ''Marsdenia'' is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1810. It is named in honor of the plant collector and Secretary of the Admiralty, William Marsden (orientalist), William Marsden. The plants are native to ...

'', ''

Secamone ''Secamone'' is a genus of plant in family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. It is widespread across much of Africa, northern Australia, southern Asia, with numerous species endemic to Madagascar Madagascar, officially the ...

'', '' Cynanchum chirindense'', '' Cyanchum abyssinicum'', '' Cynanchum medium'', '' Cynanchum nigrum'', ''

Cynanchum natalitium ''Cynanchum'' is a genus of about 300 species including some swallowworts, belonging to the family Apocynaceae. The taxon name comes from Greek ''kynos'' (meaning "dog") and ''anchein'' ("to choke"), hence the common name for several species is ...

'' and '' Cynanchum vincetoxicum''."''Amauris'' Hübner, 1816"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Subspecies

*''Amauris ochlea ochlea'' (eastern Kenya to Zululand, Natal) *''Amauris ochlea affinis'' Aurivillius, 1911 (Comoro Islands) *''Amauris ochlea bumilleri'' Lanz, 1896 (northern Malawi, south-western Tanzania, Zambia) *''Amauris ochlea darius'' Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (northern Kenya (Meru, Mount Kulai) to southern Somalia and southern Ethiopia) *''Amauris ochlea moya'' Turlin, 1994 (Comoro Islands) *''Amauris ochlea ochleides'' Staudinger, 1896 (Eritrea, northern Ethiopia)

Gallery

Specimens from the coastal forest at Mabibi,

KwaZulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. File:Novice butterfly (Amauris ochlea) male underside.jpg, Male underside File:Novice butterfly (Amauris ochlea) male worn.jpg, Worn male File:Novice butterfly (Amauris ochlea) female underside.jpg, Female underside File:Novice butterfly (Amauris ochlea) female very worn.jpg, Very worn female File:Novice butterfly (Amauris ochlea) in flight.jpg, In flight

References

Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 24
a nominate b ''bumilleri'' Amauris Butterflies described in 1847 Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval {{Danainae-stub