''Cymothoe alcimeda'', the battling glider, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

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 have a re ...

. It is found in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. The

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

is 40–50 mm for males and 45–55 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round, but mainly in summer from October onwards. Peaks occur in November and from February to April. The larvae feed on ''

Kiggelaria africana ''Kiggelaria africana'' (also known as the wild peach or umKokoko) is a large, robust, low-branching African tree, and is currently the only accepted species in the genus ''Kiggelaria''. Despite its common name, ''Kiggelaria africana'' is not re ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Cymothoe alcimeda alcimeda'' (Western Cape to Knysna) *''Cymothoe alcimeda trimeni'' Aurivillius, 1912 (Eastern Cape along Drakensberg escarpment to KwaZulu-Natal midlands) *''Cymothoe alcimeda clarki'' Stevenson, 1940 (Amatola range of Eastern Cape) *''Cymothoe alcimeda rhodesiae'' Stevenson, 1934 (eastern Zimbabwe (Vumba Mountains)) *''Cymothoe alcimeda marieps'' Rydon, 1994 (south of Olifants River from Mariepskop to Barberton in Mpumalanga) *''Cymothoe alcimeda transvaalica'' Rydon, 1994 (Limpopo Province escarpment)

References

Butterflies described in 1824 Cymothoe (butterfly) {{Limenitidinae-stub