Precis tugela, the African leaf butterfly[1] or eared commodore, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia to South Africa. It is commonly included in the genus Junonia rather than Precis.

African leaf butterfly
In Adalbert Seitz's Fauna Africana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Precis
Species:
P. tugela
Binomial name
Precis tugela
Trimen, 1879
Synonyms
  • Junonia tugela
  • Junonia aurorina Butler, 1894
  • Junonia pyriformis Butler, 1896

The wingspan is 55–60 mm in males and 58–64 mm in females.[1]

The larvae feed on Plectranthus species and Englerastrum scandens.

Subspecies

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  • Precis tugela tugela — eastern Zimbabwe, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal
  • Precis tugela aurorina (Butler, 1894) — southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, northern and eastern Tanzania, Malawi
  • Precis tugela pyriformis (Butler, 1896) — western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, north-western Tanzania, northern Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kivu, Shaba, Lomami, Lualaba

References

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  1. ^ a b Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.