Nkonka Trust Nature Reserve
Overview
Nkonka Trust is at the southern end of the Kloof escarpment, looking over Pinetown with views towards the sea. It’s in the endangered KZN Sandstone Sourveld vegetation type.
What you can find
There is a view site which is a great place to see hilltopping butterflies. Gaudy Commodores Precis octavia and Dark Blue Pansies Junonia oenone are often seen there, and rarities like Light Red Acraea Rubraea nohara and Speckled Red Acraea Rubraea violarum occasionally turn up.
It has an amazing range of grassland flora, being home to some beautiful orchids and newly-described plant species.
There are colonies of the rare Yellowish Amakosa Rocksitter butterfly Durbania amakosa flavida and the strange, non-plant-eating, Basuto Skolly Thestor basutus.
Nkonka Trust is great for a half-day visit or combined with an afternoon walk in one of the other small nature reserves situated in Kloof.
Broad-bordered Grass Yellow ♂
Eurema brigitta brigitta
Dancing Telchinia ♂
Telchinia serena
Light Red Acraea ♂
Rubraea nohara nohara
Light Red Acraea ♂
Rubraea nohara nohara
Speckled Red Acraea ♂
Rubraea violarum
Pioneer Caper White ♂ on Helichrysum acutatum
Belenois aurota aurota
Brown Playboy ♂
Deudorix antalus
Yellowish Amakosa Rocksitter ♂
Durbania amakosa flavida
Yellowish Amakosa Rocksitter ♂
Durbania amakosa flavida
Golden Piper ♂
Eurytela dryope angulata
Mainland Dark Blue Pansy ♂
Junonia oenone oenone
Lilac-based Black-eye ♂
Leptomyrina gorgias gorgias
Common Barred Sailer ♂
Neptis laeta
Garden Inspector ♂
Precis archesis archesia
Southern Gaudy Commodore ♂
Precis octavia sesamus f natalensis
Southern Gaudy Commodore dark individual
Precis octavia sesamus f natalensis
be on the lookout for:
| English name | Scientific name |
| Macken’s Dart | Acleros mackenii |
| Rayed Blue | Actizera lucida |
| Autumn-leaf Vagrant | Afrodryas leda |
| Southern Yellow Zulu | Alaena amazoula amazoula |
| Yellow Russet | Aloeides aranda |
| Southern Chief | Amauris echeria echeria |
| Black-striped Hairtail | Anthene amarah amarah |
| Dark-banded scarlet | Axiocerses croesus |
| Eastern Scarlet | Axiocerses tjoane tjoane |
| 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 |
| False Dotted Border | Belenois thysa thysa |
| Black-haired Bush Brown | Bicyclus safitza safitza |
| African Joker | Byblia anvatara acheloia |
| Spotted Joker | Byblia ilithyia |
| Common Bush Blue | Cacyreus lingeus |
| Common Pirate | Catacroptera cloanthe cloanthe |
| African Migrant | Catopsilia florella |
| Green-veined Charaxes | Charaxes candiope |
| Blue-spotted King | Charaxes cithaeron cithaeron |
| Satyr Emperor | Charaxes ethalion ethalion |
| Pearl Charaxes | Charaxes varanes |
| English name | Scientific name |
| Common Meadow Blue | Cupidopsis cissus cissus |
| African Monarch | Danaus chrysippus orientis |
| Brown Playboy | Deudorix antalus |
| Small Ant-heap white | Dixeia pigea |
| Yellowish Amakosa Rocksitter | Durbania amakosa flavida |
| Vine-leaf Vagrant | Eronia cleodora |
| Pale Smoky Blue | Euchrysops barkeri |
| Grey Smoky Blue | Euchrysops malathana |
| Osiris Smoky Blue | Euchrysops osiris |
| 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 |
| Grass Jewel | Freyeria trochylus |
| Dodgers | Gegenes |
| 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 |
| Pea Blue | Lampides boeticus |
| Lilac-based Black-eye | Leptomyrina gorgias gorgias |
| Common Blue Complex | Leptotes pirithous |
| Common Evening Brown | Melanitis leda |
| Common Barred Sailer | Neptis laeta |
| English name | Scientific name |
| Citrus Swallowtail | Papilio demodocus demodocus |
| Narrow Green-banded Swallowtail | Papilio nireus lyaeus |
| Polka Dot | Pardopsis punctatissima |
| Small Branded Swift | Pelopidas mathias |
| African Meadow White | Pontia helice |
| Common Garden Inspector | Precis archesia archesia |
| Southern Gaudy Commodore | Precis octavia sesamus |
| Common Mother-of-Pearl | Protogoniomorpha parhassus |
| Light red acraea | Rubraea nohara nohara |
| Blood-red Acraea | Rubraea petraea |
| Speckled Red Acraea | Rubraea violarum |
| Boisduval’s Tree Nymph | Sevenia boisduvali boisduvali |
| Mountain Sandman | Spialia spio |
| Black-based Acraea | Stephenia natalica |
| Window Acraea | Stephenia oncaea oncaea |
| Clouded Flat | Tagiades flesus |
| Yellow-banded Telchinia | Telchinia cabira |
| Whitebar Telchinia | Telchinia encedon encedon |
| Dusky Telchinia | Telchinia esebria |
| Dancing Amber | Telchinia serena |
| Basuto Skolly | Thestor basuta basuta |
| Common Black Pie | Tuxentius melaena melaena |
| Painted Lady | Vanessa cardui |
| African Grass Blue | Zizeeria knysna knysna |
| Dark Grass Blue | Zizina otis antanossa |
| Tiny Grass Blue | Zizula hylax hylax |