Insects and plants

Fire andbutterfl ies onTable Mountain The white-branded swift, Pelopidas thrax incon­

spicua, has for no apparent reason disappearedfrom Blinkwater Gorge, even though its usuallar­val food plant, cottonwool grass Imperata cylin­drica still occurs there. Photo: A.J.M. Claassens

Are fires responsible for the disappearance of some of ourbutterfly species from Table Mountain?

by AJ.M. Claassens

The destructiveness of fynbos moun­tain and veld fires is the subject of

heated debate. The fact remains thatfires, wherever they occur, kill thou­sands of insects and spiders and a gooddeal of the larger vertebrate animals,not to mention the plants, the existenceof which become more and more endan­gered. (See text box on page 96.)

As far as butterflies ofTable Mountain*

are concerned, the larvae and pupaeof some are unaffected by fires andprobably often survive the heat under­ground in ants' nests (as many butter­flies are closely associated with ants).Most species, especially in their early,immature stages, have no defence

against fire and are burnt to death.Luckily most of the fifty-five species

The larva of the protea scarlet (Capys alphaeus)eats its way into the head of aprotea bud andfeeds on the developing seeds inside.

92 June 2006 Veld&Flora

of butterfly known to occur on TableMountain are common elsewhere, andcan re-colonize the area after a fire.

In this article I look at seven spe­cies of lycaenids, a family of butterflies

made up of the blues and coppers, sixof which have disappeared or becomeextremely scarce on Table Mountain,and one of which was endemic to thesemountains, but to the best of ourknowledge has become extinct in recentyears. Fellow lepidopterists and I have

noticed with dismay the disappearanceor near disappearance of these speciesof butterflies over the last forty years.

The protea scarlet Capys alphaeus,once common on Table Mountain wher­ever stands of proteas grew, has dis­

appeared in many places along themountain range possibly due to fireshaving destroyed its larval food plants.The female protea scarlet deposits hereggs near the base of a protea bud. Theemerging larva eats its way into thehead and feeds on the developing seedsinside and later pupates there. Afteremerging from the pupa, the maturebutterfly, that is, the 'caterpillar neatlydressed', escapes from the protea headthrough the entrance hole, made large

enough by the larva prior to pupation.The mature insect would not be ableto expand its wings if it remained toolong inside its little 'changing room.'The protea scarlet larva possesses ahoney-gland on the rear end of its backand although it feeds inside a protea

head, nectar-seeking ants always foundon protea flowers, seek out the larva toimbibe its sought after secretion. Thecommon waboom Protea nitida, whichoften survives fires, is not a larval foodplant, but the sugarbush Protea repensand the king protea Protea cynaroides,once common on the mountain, areused. The now very rare rooisuikercanProtea grandiceps is also a suitable lar­

val food plant, but it disappeared fromTable Mountain long ago.

The dark opal Chrysoritis nigricansnigricans once known from several

localities along the Table Mountainrange has almost, or more likely com­

pletely, disappeared from the area.The butterfly has not been seen foryears, or very rarely so, in some of itserstwhile known habitats in or nearthe Peninsula. Its larval food plantsinclude Zygophyllum, Osteospermumand Thesium. Lepidopterists realizedthat the existence of the dark opal was

threatened many years ago and in 1976it was placed on the protected list of the

Cape Province, together with the nowprobably extinct Lion's Head copperreferred to later. However nothing wasever done to protect any of the habitatsof these two species. Successive fires

that killed the mature butterflies, theirbrood and their food plants in their spe­cial habitats have adversely affected thesurvival of this truly magnificent but­

terfly. As with other butterflies belong­ing to the lycaenid family, the larvae

of the dark opal are associated withcertain ants. The ant species associatedwith the dark opal's larvae is a smallblack cocktail ant, Crematogaster lieng­mei, that can build carton nests, butprefers to nest in old, hollow or decay­ing branches and roots. In captivity thedark opal can be reared from larvaeaway from the presence of this ant, butin its natural environment the ants,

because of their generally aggressivebehaviour towards other insects, pro­tect the larvae they visit against inver­tebrate predators and parasitic wasps.Cocktail ants tilt their abdomen over

their back when they are disturbed,ready to squirt a foul smelling liquid atintruders - hence their common name.

The water opal Chrysoritis palmuspalmus, as far as Table Mountain isconcerned, is known only from a small

area in Orange Kloof where I foundit closely associated with the com­mon carton nest building cocktail ant(Crematogaster peringueyi) and wherethe larval food plants, a species ofBerzelia, Osteospermum polygaloidesand Chrysanthemoides monilifera grow

in abundance.

The authorDr Andre Claassens was born in Holland in 1926.He was ateacher by profession and taught for40 years in various schools first in Holland andlater in South Africa. He has always been a keennaturalist, following in the footsteps of his father,also ateacher with an extensive knowledge oflocal flora and fauna. From avery young agehe was interested in insects, particularly but­terflies. After graduating from University College,Cork, Ireland he moved to South Africa in 1966and became particularly interested in those but­terflies whose larvae are closely, sometimesobligatorily, associated with ants. He wroteand co-authored many articles on the subjectin various natural history publications, butespecially in Metamorphosis, the publication ofthe Lepidopterists' Society of Africa. He has co­authored avery successful general science andbiology text book series for South African highschools, and has written three books on localbutterflies. Dr Claassens and his wife Jill havetwo married sons and seven grandchildren.

Apart from building a large carton nestfor themselves, the ants also constructlittle carton-like shelters around the

larvae, where they rest on the foodplant and where they visit the lar­vae to imbibe the sweet secretion oftheir honey-glands. The larvae are thus

protected against small predators andparasites. I do not know the presentconservation status of the butterflyin its peaceful and tranquil habitat,because about twelve years ago I wasrefused entrance to Orange Kloof by

the authorities then concerned withissuing of permits and I have since

LEFT: The water opal (Chrysoritis palmuspalmus) is found on Table Mountain only in asmall area in Orange Kloof.Photo: A.J.M. Claassens.

BELOW LEFT: The nest of the common cartonnest building cocktail ant, Crematogasterperingueyi. These ants relish the sweet secre­tions from the honey-glands of the water opallarvae and protect them against small preda­tors and parasites. Photo: A.J.M. Claassens.

BELOW RIGHT: Author Andre Claassens inOrange Kloof: the habitat of the water opal,Chrysoritis palmus palmus.Photo: Jill Claassens.

June 2006 Veld&Flora 93

TOP: The jitterbug daisy copper, Chrysoritis zeuxo,on its food plant, Chrysanthemoides monilifera. Thisbutterfly used to be a common sight in BlinkwaterGorge, above Camps Bay, but has not been seenthere for about ten years. Photo: A.J.M. Claassens.

ABOVE: Blinkwater Gorge, above Camps Bay, oncethe habitat of the jitterbug daisy copper and the white­branded swift butterfly, but no more.Photo: A.J.M. Claassens.

94 June 2006 Veld&Flora

then not re-applied. The water opal

appears to have vanished from several

of its previously known habitats in the

Peninsula sometimes due, at least in

part, to encroachment of alien vegeta­

tion, but in others repeated fires must

have been a major cause of its disap­

pearance. They prefer damp habitats,

where the butterfly's major food plants

tend to grow in profusion. Orange Kloof,

where a mountain stream runs next to

the butterfly's habitat, is such a place.I am afraid that this butterfly, if still fly­

ing in Orange Kloof, must be constantly

threatened by fires. Small, isolated but­

terfly colonies usually are worst affected

by fires because there is little chance

that, even after conditions have turned

normal again, individuals from far away

habitats will take their place. That is no

doubt also true for certain other inver­

tebrate animals. Many lycaenid but­

terflies, including the opals and related

species tend to stay in close proximity

to their larval food plants and since

habitats have become very fragmented,

populations of these butterflies have

become isolated so that, once they and

their habitats are destroyed, they are

not likely to be replaced.

The jitterbug daisy copper, Chrysoritiszeuxo, used to occur in Blinkwater

Gorge, above Camps Bay. Small colo­

nies of this butterfly also used to occur

near Tafelberg Road, but they have

been adversely affected by too-frequent

fires and appear to have completely

vanished from there. For many years

I enjoyed watching this very localized

butterfly at Blinkwater Gorge but the

colony there disappeared about ten

years ago, also probably due to fires

raging through the area and destroy­

ing the butterflies larval food plant,

Chrysanthemoides monilifera, together

with all the butterfly's brood, as well as

nests of a hitherto unnamed cocktail

ant (a species of Crematogaster) which

visits their larvae for their sweet secre­

tion. Blinkwater Gorge, once frequent­

ed by walkers, with or without dogs,

nature lovers and butterfly enthusiasts,

was long regarded and treated as a little

nature reserve, but oflate has become a

neglected, dirty, overgrown, unsafe and

very unattractive place - only attractive

to vagrants. Yet the habitat, neglected

as it is, is still fairly rich in varieties

of plants and is the 'playground' and

breeding place of about twenty-five dif­

ferent species of butterfly.

Another butterfly, the white-brand­ed swift, Pelopidas thrax inconspicua,

a skipper (Hesperiidae), has for no

apparent reason disappeared from this

gorge. Its usual larval food plant, cot­

ton wool grass Imperata cylindrica, is

still common in places where lush

vegetation has not completely over­

shadowed it. Several birds including

sugarbirds and sunbirds are common

in the gorge and a permanent mountain

stream is a breading place for dragon­

flies and frogs, including the groaning

and grunting Cape river frog (Afranajuscigula). During its breeding season,

that lasts from spring right through

summer, I have often heard its mat­

ing call, a loud tapping rat-tat-tat-tat

sound. Its tadpoles grow unusually

large and lie motionless at the bottom

of the stream.

I also surprised a spotted eagle

owl here, dreaming in its shady day­

time shelter and on another occasion

witnessed to my horror a pied crow

remove the chicks of a tree-nesting owl.

Blinkwater Gorge could be such an

ideal place for teaching children about

plants and animals, and instilling in

them a love for nature. Both love and

knowledge will make them aware of

the need for conservation of even small

habitats close to home.

The donkey daisy copper Chrysoritiszonarius is known on the Table Mountain

range only from a small, very sensitive

area on the lower slopes close to the

coast at Camps Bay. Its larvae feed

on Chrysanthemoides incana a species

very similar to Chrysanthemoides mon­ilifera but differing from it in having

silvery-grey leaves. Its larvae are associ­

ated with cocktail ants, Crematogasterperingueyi. I visited the area in February2006 and was shocked to find the

habitat in a terrible state of neglect.

Builders' rubble was dumped illegal­ly and vagrants inhabit it. Although

the area was extremely dry so that

one glowing cigarette butt could set italight, the food plant was still growing

in good numbers, but has suffered from

encroachment by other vegetation and

new footpaths. I did not see the butterfly

itself, but its early stages may still be on

the food plants. Unfortunately the clos­

est area where the donkey-daisy copper

is plentiful, is from Bloubergstrandnorthwards so that should the butter­

fly have disappeared from Camps Bay,

there is practically zero chance thatindividuals from outside will replace

them. The management and protection

of this last habitat of a beautiful littlebutterfly right among their midst would,

with the assistance of the relevantauthorities, offer a rare opportunity forlocal educators and learners to becomepractically involved in nature conserva­tion. There is a school a stone's throwaway that could actively participate inthis project.

The same goes for a school closeto Blinkwater Gorge. Imagine a boardsaying, 'This reserve is maintained andmonitored by pupils of .. .' or somethingalong these lines.

The western sorrel copper Lycaena

orus was one of my favourite butterfliesto watch in four small habitats I knewalong the lower slopes of the TwelveApostles and Lion's Head. Alas repeatedfires in those areas have destroyed itslarval food-plants which include speciesof Polygonum and sorrel or dock Rumex,

both of which often grow in fairly dampplaces and along water courses. Thereare probably small colonies of the but­terfly, the larvae of which are not ant-

ABOVE: What used to be the habitat ofthe donkey daisy copper Chrysoritiszonarius on the lower slopes of TableMountain, close to the coast at CampsBay. Photo: A.J.M. Claassens.

LEFT: The endemic Lion's Head cop­per, also known as scarce mountaincopper, Trimenia malagrida malagridais now extinct. It was last seen twelveyears ago on the slopes of the TwelveApostles and Lion's Head. Could too­frequently occurring fires have hastenedits end? Photo: A.J.M. Claassens.

associated, surviving in suitable placeson the Table Mountain range and otherareas not too far away that eventuallymay re-colonize the destroyed habitats,but only after sufficient larval foodplants re-establish themselves.

The Lion's Head copper, also knownas scarce mountain copper, Trimenia

(=Argyrocupha) malagrida malagrida

was previously known to occur on theslopes of the Twelve Apostles and Lion's

June 2006 Veld&Flora 95

Head, but it has gradually disappearedfrom these areas.

Repeated attempts by myself andothers to find this pretty little but­terfly in a specific area on Lion'sHead where the last known colonyof the butterfly was known to havesurvived until about 1994, have beenin vain.

One can only conclude that the but­terfly has now gone from this lasthabitat and that the subspecies hasmost probably been extinct for abouttwelve years. There was always hopethat another colony would be foundsomewhere on the slopes of the TwelveApostles, but I am afraid that the recentvery extensive fires have dashed thathope once and for all.

Fires are known to result in theregeneration first of low vegetation suchas preferred by the scarce mountaincopper. In days long past when moun­tain fires occurred naturally only onceperhaps in ten or fifteen years, theymay well have been advantageous tothe survival and much wider occur­rence of the species despite the fact thatthe butterfly shows no definite prefer­ence to any plant and their larvae donot appear to feed on them.

The life cycle of this butterfly is stillnot known. Messrs A. Heath and A.Brinkman who studied the subspe­cies Trimenia malagrida maryae whichoccurs in the Bredasdorp district, cameto the conclusion that the larvae needthe presence of the pugnacious ant(Anoplolepis custodiens) because larvaeand pupae were found in undergroundnests of these ants, but the exact rela­tionship between the two could not beestablished.

It was also noticed that buchu plantswere quite common in this subspe­cies' habitat as well as in the Lion'sHead copper's last known habitat onLion's Head. Buchu was also found inthe habitat of the subspecies, Trimeniamalagrida paarlensis on the Perdebergnear Klipheuwel.

Anoth.er subspecies, T. malagrida ced­rusmontana occurs on the Cederbergand certain other south-western Capemountains. It may well be that habitatof T. malagrida paarlensis on the PaarlMountains, from where it was firstrecorded, was also destroyed by fires,resulting in the apparent disappear­ance of the butterfly from that area. ~

*For the purposes of the article, 'Table Mountain'

includes the range of mountains from Cape Point to

the front of Table Mountain along Tafelberg Road.

96 June 2006 Veld&Flora

Fire and Fynbos

IN FYNBOS ecology, fires are not destructive. They are essential to the long-termhealth of fynbos. What is bad is when they happen too often. The author of theaccompanying article claims that fires are to blame for the disappearance orscarcity of some species of butterflies on Table Mountain. However, their foodplants are in many cases still abundant on Table Mountain so the destructionof their food plants cannot be the main reason for their disappearance. In factsome of the larval food plants are pioneer species that disappear in old fynbosand thus actually require periodic burns for their survival. These butterflies relyon indigenous ants for their larval stages, and I would guess that the impactof Argentine ants on the local ant fauna might have something to do with theirscarcity.

The role of fires in causing this scarcity has not been established. The loss ofProtea repens, for instance, may have more to do with urbanization than burn­ing. An elderly friend of mine remembers collecting litres (or pints) of sugarbushnectar from the lower slopes of Devils Peak as a youngster. That area is nowunder buildings, roads and Rhodes Estate, hence the disappearance of the pro­teas. What would be nice would be some historical records about the butterflyspecies. When were they first collected on the mountain, for instance? Are thererecords that they were ever more widespread across the mountain? Perhapssome of Veld & Flora's readers have some answers to these questions.John Manning, Compton Herbarium, Kirstenbosch

We need to be constantly reminded that fire is one of the keystone ecologi­cal processes for all plant communities in the Table Mountain National Park.Admittedly such fires, if too frequent, may cause some short-term damage in anevolutionary time scale. But human disturbance in the Park has been occur­ring for thousands of years and yet the rich biodiversity heritage remains intact.What has been lost can be blamed on land transformation and other humanexploits - but not necessarily directly on fire. Just visit these seemingly lifelessand black ash filled landscapes and observe very carefully, and give the systemsa little time too. In all cases you will find that the species are regenerating andthere is an abundance of new life. Not only do many of the species of all shapesand kinds re-sprout, but the soft, ash-rich soil is an excellent medium for seed­ling regeneration. Thus in a few years these seemingly razed communities willblossom forth, rejuvenated by fire.Eugene Moll, Chairman of Council, Botanical Society

Further readingClaassens, A.J.M., and Dickson, C.G.C. 1980.Butterflies ofthe Table Range. Struik, CapeTown. (Out of print).Claassens, A.J.M. 2000. Butterflies of the CapePeninsula: Acomprehensive guide. Tafelberg.Cape Town.Claassens, A.J.M. 2005. Butterflies of theWestern Cape: a guide to common garden, parkand wayside butterflies. Sunbird. (See review inthe September 2005 issue of Veld & Flora.

ABOVE: Not as bad as it looks: helicoptersbombing the April fire on Table Mountain withwater. Photo: Alice Nollen.

BELOW LEFT: Regenerating veld - three weeksafter the fire on the slopes of Kirstenbosch thisHeamanthus sanguinius appeared.Photo: Alice Nollen