Mountain pride
Aeropetes tulbaghia
Butterfly
The mountain pride (Aeropetes tulbaghia) is a large satyrine butterfly in the family Nymphalidae, with a wingspan of 70–90 mm, occurring across the mountain ranges of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, and eastern Zimbabwe. Adults are strongly attracted to red and orange flowers and serve as the sole documented pollinator of the orchids Disa uniflora and Disa ferruginea; they also forage for nectar on Kniphofia uvaria, Watsonia, Crassula coccinea, and related red-flowered Cape plants, making the species a principal butterfly pollinator of fynbos and montane grassland ecosystems. Larvae feed on grasses in the family Poaceae, including Ehrharta erecta and Hyparrhenia hirta. Gardeners in the Cape floristic region can attract this butterfly by growing red-flowered South African natives such as red-hot pokers (Kniphofia) in sunny, open positions.
Plants in the catalog
Nectar plants · 1
Documented to rely heavily on Kniphofia uvaria nectar (Newman et al. 2012); the orchid Disa ferruginea even mimics Kniphofia to deceive this butterfly, confirming the tie.
Range
Ranges throughout the fynbos biome and montane grasslands from the Western Cape and Cape Peninsula north through the Great Escarpment and Drakensberg into KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mpumalanga, and eastern Zimbabwe; also present marginally in parts of the Nama Karoo; absent from lowland and arid zones.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Mountain pride (Aeropetes tulbaghia). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/mountain-pride-butterfly
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
Aeropetes - Wikipedia
Monotypic-genus article covering Aeropetes tulbaghia: Satyrinae placement, the southern-African mountain range, the grass larval hosts, the November–April flight, and the adult preference for red/orange flowers including the role as sole pollinator of Disa uniflora and D. ferruginea.
Aeropetes tulbaghia - GBIF
GBIF backbone species record for the South African endemic, confirming the name and its occurrence-mapped southern African range.
Table Mountain Beauty - iNaturalist
iNaturalist taxon page confirming the species identity and its southern African observation distribution.