I was lucky enough to return to Mauritius for two weeks with the family late July/early August. Despite it being the middle of winter, there were still a reasonable number of butterflies around. The temperatures were in the mid 20s, mostly sunny with occasional heavy showers early in the morning.
About 40 species of butterflies have been recorded on Mauritius, but ten of them are considered to either be casuals or now extinct. A number of the species or sub-species are endemic to Mauritius.
On our journey from the airport to the hotel I spotted a number of African Migrants –
Catopsilia florella, which was a good sign. These large white butterflies were quite abundant and the females have both a white and a yellow form. They are very active checking out flowering shrubs and during the holiday I saw plenty, but I didn’t see one settle.
The most common butterfly was the African grass blue,
Zizeeria knysna. These were all over any grassy areas or flowering shrubs. I have never seen butterflies in such numbers.
![African grass blue 13.JPG (50.95 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Zizeeria knysna](./files/thumb_10140_d77fa74a60e6d5e85cf33b19c232b3ae)
- Zizeeria knysna
![African grass blue 25.JPG (69.89 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Zizeeria knysna](./files/thumb_10140_953069ed938451614cb9b32b4291621d)
- Zizeeria knysna
![African grass blue 41.JPG (54.42 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Zizeeria knysna](./files/thumb_10140_4a32e8511c2773a969d71ece4fcc1b87)
- Zizeeria knysna
Almost as common was Lang’s short-tailed blue,
Leptotes pirithous. This is known as the common blue in Africa and they tended to spend much of their time nectaring on
Lantana and other shrubs.
![Langs short tailed blue 07.JPG (182.37 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Leptotes pirithous](./files/thumb_10140_80d9cfeb250f1aff3f7d1f0c430d63b4)
- Leptotes pirithous
The third blue that seemed to be everywhere was the tiny grass blue,
Zizula hylax. These dinky wee butterflies have a wing span of less than 20mm and their small size proved difficult for my camera’s auto focus.
![Tiny grass blue 08.JPG (49.17 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Zizula hylax](./files/thumb_10140_1c178333f6b9193dc81a11bf64cabdd5)
- Zizula hylax
![Tiny grass blue 10.JPG (51.66 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Zizula hylax](./files/thumb_10140_10388c692ede270666868d3c2bef1e35)
- Zizula hylax
This small bush in the hotel grounds must have contained over 100 of the above species. I spent a while looking for the clover blue,
Zizina antanossa, which is very similar to the African grass blue but missing the spot in the basal part of the underside of the forewing. Although I didn’t find any I did spot two other species.
This is a faded plains cupid,
Chilades pandava, missing its tails and eye spots. No doubt bitten off by a bird, thinking it was going for its head.
![Plains cupid 02.JPG (55.75 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Chilades pandava](./files/thumb_10140_5b5f2e984b16bee17405dcd2a02495e5)
- Chilades pandava
And this is
Pseudonacaduba sichela reticulum, a subspecies of the African line blue only occurring on Mauritius.
![Pseudonacaduba sichela 01 - Copy.JPG (59.7 KiB) Viewed 1969 times Pseudonacaduba sichela reticulum](./files/thumb_10140_d48545e9b17f4ec8184b9bec5229a1df)
- Pseudonacaduba sichela reticulum
The other blue that I saw was the brown playboy,
Virachola antalus. This species seemed quite bold and tended not to fly off when approached. It would quite often drop from a tree onto some flowers below looking just like a falling leaf.
![Brown playboy 11.JPG (49.2 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Virachola antalus](./files/thumb_10140_447df7b1c9daec941e62b86b7f2be284)
- Virachola antalus
Another butterfly that enjoyed the shade of the trees was
Henotesia narcissus. It tended to spend most of its time sitting amongst dead leaves in dappled sunlight, flying only short distances and keeping quite low to the ground.
![Henotesia narcissus 05.JPG (252.3 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Henotesia narcissus](./files/thumb_10140_579d52009a547992196f8bc5139fd0e8)
- Henotesia narcissus
![Henotesia narcissus 08.JPG (74.17 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Henotesia narcissus](./files/thumb_10140_ced0518de5279c18badc6d444f901ca8)
- Henotesia narcissus
A butterfly that I really wanted to see was
Junonia rhadama, the brilliant blue. I was pleased to see quite a few of them, but they were very wary. It was difficult to get within six feet of them, but with some careful stalking I was able to get a few pictures. They have a wing span of about 50mm and the male is more brightly coloured and has one eye spot on each hind wing.
![Brilliant blue 11.JPG (126.87 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Junonia rhadama](./files/thumb_10140_679881d27a3732e32d01dc2ba3520be6)
- Junonia rhadama
![Brilliant blue 04.JPG (165.83 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Junonia rhadama](./files/thumb_10140_425187836f6d4f64e807e322b91fdd41)
- Junonia rhadama
The female has two eye spots and is less blue.
![Brilliant blue 02.JPG (309.89 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Junonia rhadama](./files/thumb_10140_0f60c487c5d6fda8075d312b9e82b3b4)
- Junonia rhadama
I spent ages one morning following this Malagasy grass yellow,
Eurema floricola. This little bright yellow butterfly has a narrow black edge to the top of its wings. They seemed to fly quite low and rarely seemed to settle. This one took a break when a cloud came over, allowing me to get a picture.
![Eurema floricola 02.JPG (73.77 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Eurema floricola](./files/thumb_10140_eb8af7d9a39318a40f39e96da5ef88aa)
- Eurema floricola
Another butterfly that rarely settled was the common leopard,
Phalanta phalantha. It would fly from flower to flower, feeding for a few seconds with its wings still flapping slightly. As with most of the larger butterflies, they seemed very wary. On a slightly overcast day I found three of them amongst some vegetation sitting with their wings open and I was able to approach them quite closely.
![Common leopard 07.JPG (85.55 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Phalanta phalantha](./files/thumb_10140_133603c2869bde7af218399658577831)
- Phalanta phalantha
I saw two
Hesperiidae during my visit. The first was a fleeting glimpse of
Borbo borbonica, the olive haired swift. It flew up from the grass where I was walking and landed a few feet ahead of me. I managed a quick picture and then it flew off and vanished.
![Olive haired swift 01.JPG (338.65 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Borbo borbonica](./files/thumb_10140_8af76f1193821b4b9c99626aa15433d3)
- Borbo borbonica
Slightly more obvious was the striped policeman,
Coeliades forestan abrogates. This would flit from flower to flower feeding vigorously with its wings vibrating slightly. I only ever saw them on Lantana flowers.
![Striped policeman 06.JPG (55.52 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Coeliades forestan abrogates](./files/thumb_10140_0295672b07e0d938ffd26a32f95ebb06)
- Coeliades forestan abrogates
Two butterflies that I regularly saw, but which never seemed to land were the plain tiger,
Danaus chrysippus and the lovely citrus swallowtail,
Papilo demodocus.
This is an interesting butterfly. I think it is
Hypolimnas anthedon drucei, but according to the butterfly book I bought “it is exceedingly rare or extinct in Mauritius”. Only four specimens have been caught on the island, the most recent in 1953. I am trying to find out more from the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation.
This is the evening brown,
Melanitis leda. An amazing butterfly that flies in the evening as it is going dark. At first I thought I had been seeing large moths. By day they rest amongst the dry leaves under trees, only flying when disturbed. This one appeared one night in the corridor outside our room.
![Common evening brown 02.JPG (73.56 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Melanitis leda](./files/thumb_10140_4e5e266b7a2fbb8ed8c890521f176ede)
- Melanitis leda
I visited the Ile aux Aigrettes, an island nature reserve looked after by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. This is a fascinating place and it was great to hear of the work that the Foundation are undertaking to protect indigenous species. It was also very sad to learn of all of the extinctions that have occurred since humans have discovered Mauritius. Not only the dodo, but the blue parrot, giant skink and giant tortoise amongst others have been lost.
![IMG_6831.JPG (67.61 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Ile aux Aigrettes](./files/thumb_10140_ae02e51a67a89eb66c39c376ba633c72)
- Ile aux Aigrettes
Similar species of giant tortoise have been introduced onto the island to help with seed germination and the control of invasive species. Various other species have been brought back from the brink of extinction. It was amazing to learn that most of the natural shrubs have two different kinds of leaves. The lower ones tend to have red or yellow markings and are not palatable for tortoises, whereas the leaves above about a metre are green and lush.
![IMG_6838.JPG (111.55 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Mauritius Fody](./files/thumb_10140_d0dd90c8f5872d4302044920be2e8e61)
- Mauritius Fody
I managed a poor picture of a pink pigeon. There were only nine remaining in 1990 and thanks to an intensive conservation programme there are now over 400 at three locations around Mauritius.
![IMG_6845.JPG (141.46 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Pink pigeon](./files/thumb_10140_710f2fb818e13e0e8eb2cfa2f24dbeaf)
- Pink pigeon
![IMG_6946.JPG (48.79 KiB) Viewed 3212 times Ornate day gecko](./files/thumb_10140_a433991c6670849076939b1dfd4f17eb)
- Ornate day gecko
There only remains 1.2% of the native forest on Mauritius. Much of the island has been cleared for sugar cane production. What I had thought was natural woodland on the higher land turns out to be mostly invasive species that have taken over after the ebony trees were cleared.
It was still a fantastic country to visit with such friendly people. I can’t complain at having seen 17 species of butterflies in the middle of their winter!