Tarsocera cassus

Tarsocera cassus, the spring widow, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in South Africa.

Spring widow
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Tarsocera
Species:	T. cassus
Binomial name
Tarsocera cassus (Linnaeus, 1764)[1]
Synonyms
Papilio cassus Linnaeus, 1764 Dira cassus (Linnaeus, 1764)

The wingspan is 42–52 mm for males and 50–57 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to December (with a peak in October or November). There is one generation per year^[2]

The larvae feed on various Poaceae species, including Lolium temulentum and Haparrhenia hirta.

Subspecies

• Tarsocera cassus cassus (northern Cape south to the south-western parts of the West Cape)
• Tarsocera cassus outeniqua Vári, 1971 (Little Karoo and the south-eastern part of the West Cape)