''Parosmodes morantii'', the Morant's skipper or Morant's orange, is a

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

of the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

. It is found in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

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 ...

and from western

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. 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 of ...

is 28–31 mm for males and 33–35 mm for females. Adults are on wing from July to early October and from December to May in a stronger summer brood (with a peak from February to March). There are two generations per year. The larvae feed on '' Combretum'' species (including '' Combretum queinzii'' and ''

Combretum molle ''Combretum molle'', the velvet bushwillow, is a medium to large tree species in the genus ''Combretum'' found in western, eastern and southern Africa. The larvae of '' Parosmodes morantii'' and '' Acalyptris molleivora'' feed on ''C. molle''. ...

''), ''

Bridelia ''Bridelia'' is a plant genus of the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1806.Bridelia micrantha ''Bridelia micrantha'', the mitzeeri or the coastal golden-leaf, is a tree in the family Phyllanthaceae and is native to tropical and southern Africa as well as to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Description A medium to tall tree (u ...

''), ''

Quisqualis The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Myrtales. The family includes about 530 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in ca 10 genera. The family includes the leadwood tree, ''Combre ...

'', ''

Terminalia Terminalia may refer to: * Terminalia (festival), a Roman festival to the god of boundaries Terminus * ''Terminalia'' (plant), a tree genus * Terminalia (insect anatomy), the terminal region of the abdomen in insects * ''Polyscias terminalia'', a ...

'' and ''

Syzygium cordatum ''Syzygium cordatum'' is an evergreen, water-loving tree, which grows to a height of 8–15 m. This tree is often found near streams, on forest margins or in swampy spots. The leaves are elliptic to circular, bluish green on top and a paler green ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Parosmodes morantii morantii'' — coast of Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Shaba, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal *''Parosmodes morantii axis'' Evans, 1937 — Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, northern Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, western Kenya, western Tanzania

References

Butterflies described in 1873 Erionotini Taxa named by Roland Trimen Butterflies of Africa {{Erionotini-stub