Hemiolaus caeculus

Hemiolaus caeculus, the azure hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in southern Africa.

Hemiolaus caeculus
Hemiolaus caeculus caeculus, South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Hemiolaus
Species:
H. caeculus
Binomial name
Hemiolaus caeculus
(Hopffer, 1855)[1]
Synonyms
  • Hypolycaena caeculus (Hopffer, 1855)
  • Iolaus caeculus Hopffer, 1855
  • Hypolycaena dolores Suffert, 1904
  • Hypolycaena caeculus obscurus Suffert, 1904
  • Hypolycaena caeculus ab. duponti Dufrane, 1953
  • Iolaus caeculus tsodiloensis Pinhey, 1969

The wingspan is 30–35 mm for males and 34–38 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round with peaks after rains.[2]

The larvae feed on Olax species, including Olax dissitiflora and Olax obtusifolia.

Subspecies
  • Hemiolaus caeculus caeculus (Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, eastern Zambia, south-eastern Tanzania)
  • Hemiolaus caeculus littoralis Stempffer, 1954 (coast of eastern Kenya and eastern Tanzania, Usambara Mountains)
  • Hemiolaus caeculus vividus Pinhey, 1962 (western Zambia, south-western Tanzania, southern Zaire (south-eastern Shaba))
  • Hemiolaus caeculus tsodiloensis (Pinhey, 1969) (northern Botswana)
Hypolycaena caeculus

References
  1. Hypolycaena at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.