''Colotis antevippe'', the red tip, 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

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family (biology), family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from Afrotropical realm, tropical Africa and Indomalayan realm, tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern ...

. It is found in the

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

. 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 40–45 mm. The adults fly year-round. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e feed on ''

Boscia albitrunca ''Boscia albitrunca'', commonly known as the shepherd tree or shepherd's tree (, , , , , ), is a protected species of South African tree in the caper family. It is known for having the deepest known root structure of any plant at: -. The speci ...

'', '' Boscia oleoides'', '' Capparis sepiara'', ''

Maerua cafra ''Maerua afra'' (DC.) Ferdinand Albin Pax, Pax is a small Southern African tree belonging to Capparaceae, the caper family, occurring eastwards along the coast from Knysna, then further inland and northwards through KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland, ...

'', and '' Maerua juncea''.

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognised:''Colotis''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' *''C. a. antevippe'' (Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, northern Nigeria, Niger, northern Cameroon) *''C. a. zera'' (Lucas, 1852) (Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, northern and western Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, south-western Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman) *''C. a. gavisa'' (Wallengren, 1857) (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini)

Gallery

Large orange tip (Colotis euippe) male.jpg, Male ''C. a. antevippe''

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

Large orange tip (Colotis antevippe exole) male.jpg, Male ''C. a. exole''

Semliki Wildlife Reserve The Semliki Wildlife Reserve is a conservation protected area in the Western Region of Uganda with headquarters at Karugutu in Ntoroko District. It is the oldest wildlife reserve. Geography Semliki Wildlife Reserve is located in Kabarole an ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Large orange tip (Colotis antevippe exole) male underside.jpg, Male ''C. a. exole''

Large orange tip (Colotis antevippe exole) female underside.jpg, Female ''C. a. exole''

References

Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 17

External links

Images representing ''Colotis antevippe''
at BOLD Butterflies described in 1836 antevippe Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval {{Pieridae-stub