Pennington's Protea

VULNERABLE: Pennington's Protea Capys penningtoni (Lycaenidae: Theclinae) was discovered in 1929, by Archdeacon GE Pennington, in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Unlike its two common relatives, C.alphaeus (Protea Scarlet) and C.disjunctus (Protea Russet) it is a localised butterfly, restricted to the area around Loteni, Bulwer and the upper Umkomaas valley. Amahaqwa Mountain near Bulwer is a particularly good place to see it.

Males perch on prominent twigs and rocks close to stands of the foodplant Protea caffra (Proteaceae). The larger females are found near these trees where they lay eggs on immature flower buds. The larva burrows into the bud, where it eats the immature seeds in the flower ovary - a food rich in fat, protein and nutrients. Eventually it forms a pupa inside the protea head, having first bored an exit hole (shown here, with pupa visible inside).

The adults fly in late winter and early spring, and are among the earliest butterflies on the wing in their area.