Appias epaphia

Appias epaphia, the diverse white or African albatross, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae.^[2] It is found in Africa, south of the Sahara. The habitat consists of forests and heavy woodland.^[3]

Appias epaphia
A. e. contracta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pieridae
Genus:	Appias
Species:	A. epaphia
Binomial name
Appias epaphia (Cramer, [1779])[1]
Synonyms
Papilio epaphia Cramer, [1779] Appias (Glutophrissa) epaphia Pieris orbona Boisduval, 1833 Glutophrissa contracta Butler, 1888 Papilio saba Fabricius, 1781 Papilio hypatia Drury, 1782 Pieris higinia Godart, 1819 Pieris matuta Doubleday, 1847 Appias epaphia ab. infralimbalis Strand, 1912 Appias epaphia var. limbophora Strand, 1913 Appias epaphia ab. simplicior Strand, 1913 Appias sabina var. epaphiopsis Gaede, 1916 Appias epaphia ab. decolorata Hulstaert, 1924 Appias epaphia ab. confluens Hulstaert, 1924 Appias epaphia f. arctimargo Hulstaert, 1924 Appias epaphia epaphia f. dido Talbot, 1943 Appias epaphia epaphia ab. lagai Dufrane, 1947 Appias epaphia epaphia ab. deficiens Dufrane, 1947 Pieris mahoboides Holland, 1896 Appias epaphia eurynome Stoneham, 1957 Appias epaphia f. ione Stoneham, 1957 Pieris malatha Boisduval, 1833 Pieris saba var. albida Mabille, 1887 Pieris saba var. flava Mabille, 1887 Appias epaphia f. aglaia Stoneham, 1957

The wingspan is 40–50 millimetres (1.6–2.0 in). Adults are on wing year-round, but mainly from March to May in southern Africa.^[4]

The larvae feed on Capparis species (including Capparis sepiaria), Maerua racemulosa, and Boscia albitrunca.

Subspecies

• A. e. aequatorialis Mendes & Bivar de Sousa, 2006 (São Tomé Island)^[5]
• A. e. angolensis Mendes & Bivar de Sousa, 2006 (Angola)^[5]
• A. e. epaphia (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, western Uganda (Bwamba Forest), western Kenya)
• A. e. contracta (Butler, 1888) (South Sudan, Ethiopia, eastern Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, north-eastern Botswana, South Africa (Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province), Eswatini, Comoro Islands)
• A. e. orbona (Boisduval, 1833) (Madagascar)
• A. e. piresi Mendes & Bivar de Sousa, 2006 (Príncipe Island)^[5]