Abantis

For the ancient people, see Abantes. For their land, see Euboea.

"Paradise skippers" redirects here. For the species known as the paradise skipper, see Abantis paradisea.

"Caprona" redirects here. For the village in Tuscany, see Caprona, Vicopisano. For the book by Diana Wynne Jones, see The Magicians of Caprona.

Abantis is an Afrotropical^[2] genus of skipper butterflies.^[1] They are also known as the paradise skippers.^[1] Their imagos are generally attractive with bold or colourful wing and/or body markings. They occur in either forest or savanna, and several species are very localized or thinly distributed.^[3] The territorial males are encountered more often than the females. Males engage territorial intruders, and are prone to very rapid and high flight, while females display more relaxed flight habits, closer to the ground.^[4] Plants of several families serve as food plants, and only one egg is oviposited per plant. The larva is pale and spotted to varying degrees, and pupates inside a leaf shelter drawn together by silk threads.^[4]

Paradise skippers
Abantis bicolor in South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Tribe:	Tagiadini
Genus:	Abantis Hopffer, 1855[1]
Synonyms
Sapaea Plötz, 1879[1] Abantiades Fairmaire, 1894 (not Herrich-Schäffer, 1855)[2] Leucochitonea Wallengren, 1857 Caprona Wallengren, 1857

Species

• Abantis adelica (Karsch, 1892)
• Abantis amneris (Rebel & Rogenhofer, 1894)
• Abantis arctomarginata Lathy, 1901
• Abantis bamptoni Collins & Larsen, 1994
• Abantis bicolor (Trimen, 1864)
• Abantis bismarcki Karsch, 1892
• Abantis canopus (Trimen, 1864)
• Abantis cassualalla (Bethune-Baker, 1911)
• Abantis contigua Evans, 1937
• Abantis efulensis Holland, 1896
• Abantis elegantula (Mabille, 1890)
• Abantis eltringhami Jordan, 1932
• Abantis hindei (Druce, 1903)
• Abantis ja Druce, 1909
• Abantis leucogaster (Mabille, 1890)
• Abantis levubu (Wallengren, 1857)
• Abantis lucretia Druce, 1909
• Abantis meneliki Berger, 1979
• Abantis meru Evans, 1947
• Abantis nigeriana Butler, 1901
• Abantis paradisea (Butler, 1870)
• Abantis pillaana (Wallengren, 1857)
• Abantis pseudonigeriana Usher, 1984
• Abantis rubra Holland, 1920
• Abantis tanobia Collins & Larsen, 2005
• Abantis tettensis Hopffer, 1855
• Abantis venosa Trimen, 1889
• Abantis vidua Weymer, 1901
• Abantis zambesiaca (Westwood, 1874)