11 August 2024

Common Joker – Raydah Escarpment

The Common Joker Byblia achelonia is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, found in Yemen, south-western Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, eastern Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, northern Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape. It has a wingspan of 38–43 mm in males and 40–45 mm in females and fly year-round. It is similar to the Spotted Joker Byblia ilithyi with both seen together at the Raydah escarpment in the southwest of the Kingdom, near Abha.

Spotted Joker (bottom) & Common Joker (top)