Swainson, 1830 subtribe iolaina riley, 1958 Iolaus pallene. Photo courtesy Jeremy Dobson

“After hearing a report by Raymond Jones of Richards Bay concerning his capture of this butterfly at a locality in the Eshowe/Empangeni area of Natal (on the hill opposite Dukaneni Siding) the writer resolved to investigate and record the life history in order to enable any differences or similarities with I. aphnaeoides Trimen of the Eastern Cape region to be established. The foodplant is a species of Loranthus (presumed to be wyliei, although no confirmation of identity has been made) which grows quite abundantly on the hill. The flowers are white with yellow and red tips.

Remarks. The writer is not familiar with the life history of I. aphnaeoides Trimen from the Eastern Cape. Perhaps collectors from that area could record the life history for comparison. Two other species were also found breeding on the same loranthus at Dukaneni – I. sidus Trimen and I. mimosae Trimen.”

"The eggs are white with a fine ribbing tracery and are 0,6mm in diameter and 0,5mm high. The first instar larva is 0,8mm long on hatching and is creamy-white with long black setae and a reddish-brown dorsal stripe. In the third instar the larva develops a hump on the thoracic segments tapering down along the abdominal segments. The larva is variable in colour being pale yellow to green, with or without a dorsal stripe, or yellowish green mottled with reddish-brown lateral stripes. The final (fourth) instar is equally as variable, some being pale green with a darker green dorsal stripe to yellow with a red dorsal stripe, others are the same as the third instar and a uniform reddish-brown has also been recorded. The larva stops eating a couple of days before pupation and takes on a mottled grey colour. The pupa is 9-10mm long and is secured by the cremastral hooks. The colour is varied to match the surroundings, from dull cream to grey mottled with off-white, bluish-green or dappled brown and cream." "The females are sometimes seen fluttering around the foodplant laying eggs singly here and there on the leaves or flowers. The first instar feeds by eating a furrow into the flower. In the later instars the larva eats the entire flower from the tip. The larva pupates on a twig or branch on which it has spun a pad of silk to which it is attached by the cremastral hooks. The pupa lies flat against the substrate and has short protuberances on the dorsum of the abdominal segments. It is very well comouflaged resembling a knot of wood."

"Great numbers of eggs and larvae of this butterfly have in recent years been found on clusters of Actinanthella wyliei growing near Eshowe during the months of November and December. It is interesting that, unlike those of I. (E.) aphnaeoides, the larvae of I. (E.) d. aphnaeoides [sic] have dorsal stripes, which vary in number from one to as many as three."