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Colias electo

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Colias electo
Male upper and underside
Female upper and underside
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Species:
C. electo
Binomial name
Colias electo
Synonyms
  • Papilio electo Linnaeus, 1763
  • Papilio electra Linnaeus, 1767
  • Papilio palaeno Stoll, 1781
  • Colias aurivillius Keferstein, 1883
  • Colias electo electo f. overlaeti Berger, 1940
  • Colias electo f. millari Stoneham, 1957
  • Colias electo ab. eremna Vári, 1976
  • Colias electo electo f. elysium Kroon, 1985
  • Colias electo electo ab. capensis McLeod and McLeod, 2002
  • Colias electo electo ab. inconstantis McLeod, 2004
  • Colias electo electo ab. memorabilis McLeod, 2004
  • Colias electo electo ab. pallidula McLeod, 2004
  • Colias hecate Strecker, 1900
  • Colias electo hecate f. katangae Berger, 1940
  • Colias electo hecate f. bunda Berger, 1940
  • Colias electo hecate f. elisabethae Berger, 1940
  • Colias electo meneliki f. bafanae Berger, 1940
  • Colias electo philbyi f. bafanae Berger, 1953
  • Colias electo philbyi f. pauper Berger, 1953
  • Colias electo philbyi Berger, 1953
  • Colias electo pseudohecate f. licina Berger, 1940
  • Colias electo pseudohecate f. lecerfi Berger, 1940
  • Colias electo pseudohecate f. splendens Berger, 1940
  • Colias electo pseudohectae ab. dormonti Dufrane, 1947
  • Colias electo f. affricana Stoneham, 1957
  • Colias electo f. ambreana Stoneham, 1957

Colias electo, the African clouded yellow or lucerne butterfly, is a butterfly of the Pieridae family. It is found in eastern and southern Africa, as well as Arabia. The habitat consists of temperate and montane grasslands.[2]

The wingspan is 35–40 millimetres (1.4–1.6 in) for males and 32–40 mm (1.3–1.6 in) for females. Adults are on the wing throughout the year, with a peak from April to August.[3]

The larvae feed on Medicago sativa, Trifolium, Vicia and Robinia pseudoacacia.

Subspecies

  • C. e. electo (South Africa, southern Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia)
  • C. e. hecate Strecker, 1900 (Angola, southern Zaire, northern Zambia and north-western Malawi)
  • C. e. pseudohecate Berger, 1940 (Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi, southern Sudan, southern Ethiopia and northern Somalia)
  • C. e. meneliki Berger, 1940 (central and northern Ethiopia and Eritrea)
  • C. e. philbyi Berger, 1953 (southern and western Arabia)
  • C. e. manengoubensis Darge, 1968 (eastern Nigeria, Cameroon)

References

  1. ^ Colias, Site of Markku Savela
  2. ^ Afrotropical Butterflies: File D – Pierini - Subfamily Coliadinae
  3. ^ Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 2005.