The shape of the black markings on the wings gives rise to the vernacular name of this little beauty, resembling the silhouette of an arched bridge.
We saw a single example at the foot of the Waterberg Plateau in Namibia. It posed beautifully for Carol, then moved and posed poorly for me. At least I got to see it, though. 😉
We didn’t see a female but they, apparently, are tricky: there is currently no known feature to distinguish females of P. portia from P. lucia. The wing markings of the male do differ noticeably.
Id Notes
- ♂ – the wing markings make this unmistakeable
- ♀ – impossible to distinguish from P. lucia (whatever it looks like)
| male |
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