This little skipper is not much to look at, but it may be only the second specimen ever recorded of the species, which we found in Kisubi Forest near Entebbe. The only other record is a specimen in the Natural History Museum (London), from which the species was described in 1937 by the great skipper expert, W. H. Evans.

The Emperor Swallowtail is one of the largest swallowtails in Uganda, photographed here in Mpanga Forest west of Kampala.

This little blue is abundant all over West Africa. We found it in Kibale Forest in Western Uganda, at the far eastern end of its range. Why it gets no further east is a mystery to me.

Neave’s Judy is one of only a handful of Metalmarks found in Africa. There is just one species in Europe (the Duke of Burgundy), but more than 1,300 in tropical America.

The Four-Colour Acraea, as its name implies, is perhaps the most colourful of the Acraeas, a huge genus with about 100 species in Uganda alone. 10 metres beyond the point where we snapped this butterfly in Bwindi Forest, we nearly trod on a spitting cobra!

Penelope’s Acraea has typical Acraea markings, and is found commonly in or near forests. The forewing spots can be red, orange or even transparent.

The Yellow Pansy is only found in dry savannah; this one was in Queen Elizabeth National Park, the largest Uganda destination for big game viewing.

By contrast to the Yellow Pansy, the Blue Spot Pansy, a close relative, is confined to dense forest. Behind these two males in Kibale Forest are lurking a Leopard Fritillary (Phalanta phalantha aethiopica) and a Velvety Tree Nymph (Sallya occidentalium).

The Forest Mother-of-Pearl is one of Uganda’s most beautiful butterflies. This one was in Maramagambo Forest.

The Euphaedras are large butterflies which flop around in the forest understorey; as a result their wings become tattered very quickly. This fresh male of the commonest species, the Common Forester, had probably emerged that morning when we photographed it in Kibale Forest.

This much rarer Euphaedra is an almost perfect mimic of a much smaller unpalatable moth, with which it flies.

We saw many Charaxes, strong, fast-flying butterflies which have been known to attack other butterflies with the serrated edges of their forewings. This one is the Savannah Charaxes, which we found in Kibale Forest and which inhabits transitional areas between closed forest and open savannahs.