Dira jansei, or Janse's widow, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found on wooded hillsides in the savanna/grassland ecotone in Limpopo's Strydpoortberg and Drakensberg and from the Makapans Cave to Mariepskop.

Janse's widow
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Dira
Species:
D. jansei
Binomial name
Dira jansei
(Swierstra, 1911)
Synonyms
  • Leptoneura jansei Swierstra, 1911[1]

The wingspan is 48–55 mm for males and 52–58 mm for females. Adults are on wing from late February to mid-March. There is one generation per year.[2]

The larvae feed on various Poaceae species, including Ehrharta erecta and Pennisetum clandestinum.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Dira Hübner, [1819]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. ^ Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.