Azanus isis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

White-banded babul blue
Niaouli forest in southern Benin
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Azanus
Species:
A. isis
Binomial name
Azanus isis
(Drury, 1773)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio isis Drury, 1773
  • Azanus (Azanisis) isis
  • Papilio caeruleoalbus Goeze, 1779
  • Papilio camillus Cramer, 1780
  • Hesperia isarchus Fabricius, 1793

Azanus isis, the white-banded babul blue, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae which is native to the tropics and subtropics of sub-Saharan Africa.

Range and habitat[edit]

It is found in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, southern Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the DRC, Uganda, Ethiopia, north-western Tanzania and northern Zambia.[2] The habitat consists of forest edges and clearings, woodland and moist savanna.

Habits and food plants[edit]

Adult males mud-puddle, visit carcasses and excrement and settle on sweaty clothing and skin. They are attracted to traps baited with rotting shrimp. The larvae feed on Dichrostachys cinerea africana and Dichrostachys glomerata.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Azanus at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera
  2. ^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Tribe Polyommatini (part 1)". Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2012-07-10.