Eicochrysops messapus
| Eicochrysops messapus | |
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| Species: | E. messapus
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| Eicochrysops messapus | |
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Eicochrysops messapus, the cupreous blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.[2] It is found in Africa. In South Africa it is rare and only known from the northern part of the Limpopo province and northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The wingspan is 17–22 mm for males and 17–24 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round in warmer areas, with peaks in October and March. In cooler areas it is not found from April to September[3]
The larvae probably feed on Thesium species.
Subspecies
- E. m. messapus (West Cape to Orange Free State)
- E. m. mahallakoaena (Wallengren, 1857) (northern East Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, northern Orange Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, the Limpopo province and the North West province)
- E. m. nandiana (Bethune-Baker, 1906) (Kenya, Uganda)
- E. m. sebagadis (Guérin-Méneville, 1849) (highlands of Ethiopia)
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eicochrysops messapus.
Wikispecies has information related to Eicochrysops messapus.
- ^ Eicochrysops at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- ^ http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Eicochrysops_messapus/classification/
- ^ Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
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