Gaudy commodore facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gaudy commodore
Winter form of P. o. sesamus
Summer form of P. o. sesamus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Precis
Species:	P. octavia
Binomial name
Precis octavia (Cramer, 1777)
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Synonyms
Papilio octavia Cramer, 1777 Junonia octavia octavia Precis sesamus (Trimen, 1883) Junonia octavia sesamus Papilio amestris Drury, 1782 Papilio zingha Fabricius, 1787 Vanessa emma Godart, 1819 Precis amestris f. intermedia Wichgraf, 1918 Precis octavia ab. kuala Heslop, 1959 Precis octavia var. natalensis Staudinger, 1885 Junonia calescens Butler, 1894 Precis octavia f. transiens Wichgraf, 1918

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The gaudy commodore (Precis octavia) is a beautiful butterfly found in Africa. It belongs to the Nymphalidae family, which includes many well-known butterflies. This butterfly is famous for its amazing ability to change its appearance depending on the season!

What the Gaudy Commodore Looks Like

The gaudy commodore was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777. This butterfly is special because it has two very different looks. These looks depend on whether it's the wet season or the dry season. Scientists call this "seasonal dimorphism". It means the same species can have different forms.

The northern type of gaudy commodore (called Precis octavia octavia) lives in West Africa and parts of Central and Northeast Africa.

• Its wet season form is mostly orange. It has a pinkish glow and black marks on its upper wings.
• Its dry season form is a shiny blue. It has a bright red band on its hindwing.

One expert, Torben B. Larsen, said this butterfly has the most amazing seasonal changes of any butterfly. The two forms were even thought to be different species at first!

The southern type (called Precis octavia sesamus) also has two forms:

• The summer form (natalensis) is red with black marks.
• The winter form (sesamus) is blue with a line of red marks on its wings.

The winter form is a bit bigger than the summer form. Both male and female butterflies look similar. However, the females are usually a little larger. Sometimes, you might see butterflies that are a mix of both forms. These "in-between" forms are rare in nature. But they can be created if the butterflies are raised in special conditions.

Where the Gaudy Commodore Lives

The gaudy commodore lives in many parts of Africa.

The northern type (Precis octavia octavia) is found in:

• Eastern Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria.
• Also Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, northern and central DRC.
• And CAR, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

The southern type (Precis octavia sesamus) lives in:

• The border area of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape in South Africa.
• Along the eastern side of South Africa, to Eswatini, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya.
• Also Uganda, Angola, southern and eastern DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and northern Namibia.

Life Cycle of the Gaudy Commodore

Like all butterflies, the gaudy commodore goes through four main stages in its life.

Eggs

The eggs are very tiny. They are rounded, green, and shaped like domes. They have small ridges running up their sides.

Larvae

The larvae are the caterpillars. They can look different from each other. Some are orange, some are orange with black bands, and some are almost completely black. The color of the caterpillar depends on the temperature. Caterpillars raised in cooler temperatures (like winter) turn black. Those raised in warmer temperatures (like summer) become bright orange.

Gaudy commodore caterpillars eat leaves from plants in the Lamiaceae family. These include Coleus species, Plastostema species, Plectranthus esculentus, Plectranthus fruticosus, Rabdosiella calycina, Pycnostachys reticulata, Pycnostachys urticifolia, and Solenostemon species.

Pupae

After growing, the caterpillar changes into a pupa. The pupae hang upside down. They have a bumpy, knobbly look. Just like with the larvae, the temperature during the pupa stage affects the adult butterfly's form. If pupae are kept warm, they become the summer form. If they are kept cool, they become the winter form. "In-between" forms can appear if the temperature is somewhere in the middle.

Adults

Adult gaudy commodore butterflies drink nectar from flowers. They fly all year round. The timing of the wet and dry seasons in different regions affects when each form flies.

In the northern type (Precis octavia octavia):

• The dry season form is less active. It often hides in quiet places, even inside buildings. It tends to fly towards forest areas.
• The wet season form is more active and often defends its territory.

Among the southern type (Precis octavia sesamus):

• Males of the summer form often fly to the tops of hills. This behavior is called hilltopping. They fly about one to two meters off the ground with a medium-fast "flap-flap-glide" movement. They are often found in grasslands.
• The male winter form rarely hilltops. It has a more random flight pattern and is often found near forests. In cold weather, the winter form will gather in groups of up to 35 butterflies. They hide in holes or under rocks to stay safe.

Interestingly, the summer and winter forms of the gaudy commodore have been seen mating with each other.

Subspecies

There are two main types, or subspecies, of the gaudy commodore:

• Precis octavia octavia
  • Range: Eastern Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, CAR, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, northern and central DRC.
• Precis octavia sesamus Trimen, 1883
  • Range: Uganda, Angola, southern and eastern DRC, Kenya to Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, northern Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini.

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  Winter form in the Drakensberg

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  Winter form – mounted specimen

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  Summer form feeding at Plectranthus flowers

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  A rare transitional form obtained in Kenya