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Paradise Skippers
Abantis
Abantis is an Afrotropical genus of skipper butterflies. They are also known as the paradise skippers. 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. 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. 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.
34 branches of this genus, most-observed first
White-cloaked Skipper
speciesAbantis levubu
Buff-tipped Skipper
speciesAbantis canopus
Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis paradisea
Ragged Skipper
speciesAbantis pillaana
Spotted Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis tettensis
Zambezi Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis zambesiaca
Bicoloured Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis bicolor
Veined Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis venosa
Contiguous Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis contigua
Kavango Ragged Skipper
speciesAbantis cassualalla
Western Ragged Skipper
speciesAbantis adelica
Streaked Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis leucogaster
Efulen Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis efulensis
Bampton’s Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis bamptoni
Elegant Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis elegantula
Tanzanian White-cloaked Skipper
speciesAbantis amneris
Bismarck’s Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis bismarcki
Plain Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis vidua
Nigerian Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis nigeriana
Tricoloured Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis arctomarginata
Ruspinoid Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis eltringhami
Djah Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis ja
Irumu Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis iruma
Lucretia’s Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis lucretia
Ethiopian Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis meneliki
Beige Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis pseudonigeriana
Russet Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis rubra
Ituri Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis ituri
Berger’s Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis bergeri
Ghana Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis tanobia
Abantis torbeni
speciesAbantis torbeni
Kenyan White-cloaked Skipper
speciesAbantis hindei
Abantis fabiana
speciesAbantis fabiana
Meru Paradise Skipper
speciesAbantis meru
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Abantis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 136402.