''Precis archesia'', the garden inspector or garden commodore, is a species of butterfly in the family
Nymphalidae
The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...
, native to
Subsaharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African ...
.
Wingspan: 45–50 mm for males and 50–60 mm for females.
[
Flight period is year-round with two main broods between September to March and April to August.][
]
Subspecies
*''P. a. archesia'' — Kenya, Tanzania, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia to Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, North West Province, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province, Western Cape Province to the south-east
*''P. a. ugandensis'' (McLeod, 1980) — Sudan, Uganda
Diet
Larval food plants include ''Plectranthus esculentus
''Coleus esculentus'', synonym ''Plectranthus esculentus'', also known as the kaffir potato or Livingstone potato, is a species of plant in the dicot family Lamiaceae. It is indigenous to Africa, where it is grown for its edible tubers. It is m ...
'', ''Plectranthus fruticosus
''Plectranthus fruticosus'', the forest spurflower, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to South Africa. Growing up to tall, it is an erect evergreen shrub, with rounded, hairy leaves, and spikes of soft blue or ...
'', '' Rabdosiella calycina'', '' Pycnostachys reticulata'', and '' Pycnostachys urticifolia''.[''Precis'']
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
SeitzFaunaAfricanaXIIITaf52, Precis archesia f. pelasgis.jpg, ''Precis archesia'' f. ''pelasgis'', illustrated in Seitz (1910)
Precis limnoria.jpg, ''P. archesia'' f. ''archesia'' female (rounder wings than male) in Seitz (1910)
Precis archesia subsp archesia, v archesia, Pretoria, d.jpg, Underside of wings, f. ''archesia''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7239489
Junoniini
Butterflies of Africa
Butterflies described in 1779