During the late afternoon of Friday, 25 November Meyerville residents were greeted by the presence of hundreds of butterflies, resulting in almost a fairytale-like picture straight from a tropical island.

An expert on butterflies identified them as the ‘Pioneer White’ or ‘African Caper White’ (Belenois aurota) of the Pieridae family (the so-called yellows and whites), saying that these medium-sized butterflies made a pitstop in Meyerville to lay their eggs.  

The butterflies, with their black-veined white wings, are found specifically in South Asia and Africa and in Africa they are also known as the ‘Brown-veined White’.  They are a common sight during summer and autumn when large numbers migrate northeast over the interior.

Their wingspan measures up to 65 mm and their caterpillars reach a size of up to 45 mm in length. They are greyish-brown in colour, with stripes on the back and are harmful to fruit trees.

The butterflies fly out in summer, laying 30-150 eggs in small heaps on leaves. Their caterpillars appear at the end of summer and skeletonise the leaves, after which they nests in trees for the duration of winter. In spring they crawl out of the nests and chomp on buds, leaves and flowers, causing damage to trees.

In Africa the host plants are almost exclusively from the family Capparaceae and in particular the genera Boscia, Maerua and Capparis. RdB