It was mentioned that after my last article, readers wanted to know more about butterflies that live with ants. Or more broadly, non-plant feeding lepidoptera!
Forbs (herbaceous flowering plants) and geophytes appear from the soil in which their rootstocks and bulbs have been hidden – often carpeting the veld with flowers – and flowers attract pollinators.
This winter I’m getting a lot of people asking why there are so many butterflies still around. Well, the answer is, it’s not unusual in a warm place like South Africa. In the Lowveld and on the east coast people often say there are two summers – a hot one and a cool one.
