Giba Gorge Environmental Precinct
Overview
Giba Gorge is a steep, deeply incised natural gorge cutting into the northern side of the Kloof sandstone escarpment near Hillcrest.
Above the gorge are KZN Sandstone Sourveld grasslands that have a rich flora and specialised butterfly species.
It’s one of the great local beauty spots and rivals the much larger Krantzkloof Nature Reserve for butterfly biodiversity. It’s possible in a single day to cover the grasslands near Mountbatten Place then move to the main trail in St. Helier Road and walk to the bottom of the gorge and back. 106 butterfly species have been recorded there but it is likely that more will be found as more people visit the reserve.
What you can find
The grasslands have butterflies like the Gaudy Commodore Precis octavia sesamus and Dark Blue Pansy Junonia oenone, as well as occasional rarities like Light Red Acraea Rubraea nohara and Fulvous Painted Ranger Nervia mohozutsa.
Along the edges of the cliffs that look out over the forest, canopy specials like Coast Charaxes Eriboea ethalion can be seen defending their territories. The rare Lesser Fig-tree Blue Myrina dermaptera can be seen there.
The track through the gorge leads along the Giba stream. This has many small waterfalls and mud puddles that attract drinking butterflies like Narrow Green-banded Swallowtail Papilio nireus lyaeus, False Wanderer Pseudacraea eurytus imitator, and Forest Leopard Phalanta eurytis. Mothers-of-pearl Protogoniomorpha species lurk in the shady places and fly out to sun themselves on low vegetation. The 100m change in altitude from the top of the forest to its base means that lowland forest species like Blonde Glider Cymothoë coranus and Battling Glider Cymothoë alcimeda both fly there.
The Hillcrest area has other good butterfly sites like Springside Nature Reserve and iPhithi Nature Reserve.
be on the lookout for:
| English name | Scientific name |
| Macken’s Dart | Acleros mackenii |
| Rayed Blue | Actizera lucida |
| Southern Yellow Zulu | Alaena amazoula amazoula |
| Layman | Amauris albimaculata albimaculata |
| Chief | Amauris echeria echeria |
| Common Hairtail | Anthene definita definita |
| Spotted Hairtail | Anthene larydas |
| Pale Babul Blue | Azanus mirza |
| Black-Bordered Babul Blue | Azanus moriqua |
| Natal Babul Blue | Azanus natalensis |
| Bright Babul Blue | Azanus ubaldus |
| Pioneer Caper White | Belenois aurota aurota |
| African Caper White | Belenois creona severina |
| Dark Wanderer | Bematistes aganice aganice |
| Black-haired Bush Brown | Bicyclus safitza safitza |
| Common Longhorn Swift | Borbo fatuellus fatuellus |
| Short-horned Swift | Borbo lugens lugens |
| African Joker | Byblia anvatara acheloia |
| Bush Bronze | Cacyreus lingeus |
| Rainforest Brown | Cassionympha cassius |
| Pirate | Catacroptera cloanthe |
| African Migrant | Catopsilia florella |
| Large Flat | Celaenorrhinus mokeezi mokeezi |
| Southern White-barred Charaxes | Charaxes brutus natalensis |
| Green-veined Charaxes | Charaxes candiope |
| Blue-spotted Charaxes | Charaxes cithaeron cithaeron |
| Satyr Charaxes | Charaxes ethalion ethalion |
| Pearl Charaxes | Charaxes varanes varanes |
| Natal Silverline | Cigaritis natalensis |
| Striped Policeman | Coeliades forestan forestan |
| Red-tab Policeman | Coeliades keithloa |
| Eastern Battling Glider | Cymothoe alcimeda trimeni |
| Blonde Glider | Cymothoe coranus coranus |
| African Monarch | Danaus chrysippus orientis |
| Small Ant-heap white | Dixeia pigea |
| English name | Scientific name |
| White-tipped Ash Blue | Eicochrysops hippocrates |
| Forest Sandman | Ernsta dromus |
| Vine-leaf Vagranf | Eronia cleodora cleodora |
| Pale smoky blue | Euchrysops barkeri |
| Grey Smoky Blue | Euchrysops malathana |
| Broad-bordered Grass Yellow | Eurema brigitta brigitta |
| African Angled Grass Yellow | Eurema desjardinsii regularis |
| Golden Piper | Eurytela dryope angulata |
| Southern Pied Piper | Eurytela hiarbas angustata |
| False Swift | Gegenes fallax fallax |
| Masked Dodger | Gegenes hottentota |
| Common Dodger | Gegenes letterstedti |
| Yellow Dodger | Gegenes niso niso |
| Veined Swordtail | Graphium leonidas |
| Small Striped Swordtail | Graphium policenes |
| Variable Diadem | Hypolimnas anthedon wahlbergi |
| Buxton’s hairstreak | Hypolycaena buxtoni buxtoni |
| Purple-brown Hairstreak | Hypolycaena philippus philippus |
| Modest Sylph | Isoteinon inornatus |
| Yellow-banded Pansy | Junonia elgiva |
| African Yellow Pansy | Junonia hierta cebrene |
| Brown Pansy | Junonia natalica natalica |
| Mainland Dark Blue Pansy | Junonia oenone oenone |
| Macomo Ranger | Kedestes macomo macomo |
| Southern Pied Woollylegs | Lachnocnema laches |
| Eastern Blotched Leopard | Lachnoptera ayresii ayresii |
| Pea Blue | Lampides boeticus |
| Lilac-based Black-eye | Leptomyrina gorgias gorgias |
| African Wood White | Leptosia alcesta inalcesta |
| Common Blue Complex | Leptotes pirithous |
| Southern African Snout | Libythea laius |
| Eastern Gold-spotted Sylph | Metisella metis paris |
| Banana-tree Nightfighter | Moltena fiara |
| Eastern Dotted Border | Mylothris agathina agathina |
| Lesser Figtree Blue | Myrina dermaptera dermaptera |
| English name | Scientific name |
| Common Figtree Blue | Myrina silenus ficedula |
| Common Barred Sailer | Neptis laeta |
| African Spotted Sailer | Neptis saclava marpessa |
| Fulvous Painted Ranger | Nervia mohozutsa |
| Mocker Swallowtail | Papilio dardanus cenea |
| Citrus Swallowtail | Papilio demodocus demodocus |
| Narrow Green-banded Swallowtail | Papilio nireus lyaeus |
| Lowland Bush Beauty | Paralethe dendrophilus indosa |
| Water Watchman | Parnara monasi |
| Forest Leopard | Phalanta eurytis eurytis |
| African Leopard | Phalanta phalantha aethiopica |
| Common Garden Inspector | Precis archesia archesia |
| Southern Gaudy Commodore | Precis octavia sesamus |
| Dry-leaf Commodore | Precis tugela tugela |
| Clouded Mother-of-Pearl | Protogoniomorpha nebulosa |
| Common Mother-of-Pearl | Protogoniomorpha parhassus |
| Eastern Boisduval’s False Acraea | Pseudacraea boisduvalii trimenii |
| False Wanderer | Pseudacraea eurytus imitator |
| Southern False Chief | Pseudacraea lucretia tarquinea |
| Light Red Acraea | Rubraea nohara nohara |
| Blood-red Acraea | Rubraea petraea |
| Boisduval’s Tree Nymph | Sevenia boisduvali boisduvali |
| Morant’s Tree Nymph | Sevenia morantii morantii |
| Bronze Tree Nymph | Sevenia natalensis natalensis |
| Mountain Sandman | Spialia spio |
| Black-based Acraea | Stephenia natalica |
| Window Acraea | Stephenia oncaea |
| Clouded Flat | Tagiades flesus |
| Yellow-banded Telchinia | Telchinia cabira |
| White-barred Telchinia | Telchinia encedon encedon |
| Dusky Telchinia | Telchinia esebria |
| Dancing Telchinia | Telchinia serena |
| Painted Lady | Vanessa cardui |
| Southern Short-tailed Admiral | Vanessa hippomene hippomene |
| African Grass Blue | Zizeeria knysna knysna |
| Tiny Grass Blue | Zizula hylax hylax |