Bug FAQEastern Dotted Border
Mylothris agathina · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae
Also called: Common Dotted Border
The Eastern Dotted Border has bright white wings with yellow shades and black dots along the margins. Males have a wingspan of 50 to 60 mm and females 52 to 65 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The wings are bright white with yellow tones and a series of black dots along the edges.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Males measure 50 to 60 mm across, while females are slightly larger at 52 to 65 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
You can also see it in suburban gardens, especially perched on the tops of trees.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on leaves of legume plants such as Hairy Mistletoe and African Sandalwood. Adults sip nectar from flowers like Natal Blue Haze and other local blooms.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Its life stages are egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult. The first-instar larvae hatch directly on the host plant.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is native to sub-Saharan Africa, especially East and Southern Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What do the caterpillars eat?
Caterpillars feed on the leaves of legume hosts such as Hairy Mistletoe and African Sandalwood.
Source: Wikipedia
Where might I see these butterflies in my garden?
They often perch on the tops of trees in suburban gardens.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Pieridae)
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Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mylothris_agathina
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.