Neptis serena

Neptis serena, the serene sailer or river sailer, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, northern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Yemen.^[2] The habitat consists of open, grassy banks of streams and rivers in forests, heavy woodland, coastal bush and savanna.

Neptis serena
female N. s. serena, The Gambia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Neptis
Species:	N. serena
Binomial name
Neptis serena Overlaet, 1955[1]
Synonyms
Neptis agatha ab. lativittata Strand, 1909 Neptis agatha ab. latvitta Strand; d'Abrera, 1980

Adult males mud-puddle. Adults are on wing from April to January.

The larvae feed on Cycina species.

Subspecies

• Neptis serena serena (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, northern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal)
• Neptis serena annah Larsen, 1982 (Yemen)

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Neptis agatha species group