This article reports the first host-plant species record for Colotis lais (Pieridae), the shrub Cadaba aphylla (Capparaceae). It includes a first description of the final instar larva and the pupa for this species. It furthermore indicates the frequent use of C. aphylla as a host plant by Colotis euippe omphale (Pieridae) in the southern Kalahari. The visible concentrations of C. aphylla at these terrain units influence the conspicuous presence of C. lais and C. euippe omphale at riparian zones in this region. The use of C. aphylla at riparian zones in semi-arid Kalahari bioregions (arid savanna), which encounter periodic droughts, is therefore important for the survival of these species. These findings prompt a change in the perspective on host-plant use of Pieridae butterflies in the southern Kalahari. Although C. aphylla is not the main source for the abundance of pierids in the region, it clearly supports their numbers to a greater degree than has been assumed. Boscia albitrunca and Senna italica are the main host sources, but C. aphylla decidedly influences the diversity and abundances of Pieridae butterfly species in the southern Kalahari. This emphasises the importance of a regional perspective on host-plant use by butterfly species. These findings about the host-plant use and landscape ecology of butterflies at Tswalu Kalahari show that C. aphylla is a keystone species that calls upon further research.

A new, externally atypical Nyodes is described from Equatorial Africa: Nyodes paludicola sp. nov. The new species is compared to the superficially most similar Nyodes steelei Laporte, 1971, and N. punctatoides Laporte, 1973, with the closest genital morphology. The new species is associated with wetland habitats and is widely distributed in West, Central and East Africa. Genetic divergence between the geographically distant populations has been assessed based on mtDNA COI barcodes.

Butterflies may be specialists, generalists, or somewhere in between. In this paper, we propose a method for defining various categories of specialism, test the robustness of the method, and allocate all South African butterfly species to a category. The results are then evaluated and discussed.