Coast Purple Tip vs Large Orange Tip

Colotis erone compared with Colotis antevippe

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Coast Purple Tip	Large Orange Tip
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family same	Pieridae	Pieridae
Genus same	Colotis	Colotis
Species	Colotis erone	Colotis antevippe

Evolutionary Relationship

Coast Purple Tip and Large Orange Tip share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Colotis.

Conservation Status

Coast Purple Tip

LC — Least Concern

Large Orange Tip

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Coast Purple Tip	Large Orange Tip
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Coast Purple Tip

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Large Orange Tip

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Coast Purple Tip

Coast purple-tip (Colotis erone) is a butterfly in the family Pieridae, subfamily Colotinae, native to coastal and wooded savanna habitats of sub-Saharan Africa, occurring in eastern and southern Africa from Kenya and Tanzania south to Mozambique and South Africa. Like other Colotis species, males have striking wing-tip markings—in this case a vivid purple or lilac patch on the forewing apex—while females are more cryptically patterned. Larvae feed on plants in the family Salvadoraceae or Capparaceae, typical host families for the genus. Adults are fast-flying and typically found along woodland margins, coastal thickets, and scrub habitats near the coast. The genus Colotis is distributed across Africa and Asia, with many species restricted to specific host plants and habitat types. Coast purple-tip is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, with populations distributed across suitable coastal and woodland habitat in eastern and southern Africa. Like many invertebrates, it is sensitive to habitat quality and the availability of its larval food plants.