Aloeides thyra

Red copper

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Aloeides
Species:	A. thyra
Binomial name
*Aloeides thyra* (Linnaeus, 1764)^[1]
Synonyms
Papilio thyra Linnaeus, 1764 Papilio nycetus Stoll, 1781 Papilio euadrus Fabricius, 1787

Aloeides thyra, the red copper, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in the Western Cape, South Africa.

The wingspan is 22–26 mm for males and 24–28 mm females. Adults are on wing from July to April with peaks in October and February. There are several generations per year through the warmer months.^[2]

The larvae feed on Aspalathus acuminata, A. laricifolia and A. cymbiformis. The larvae are attended to by Lepisiota capensis ants.

Subspecies

Aloeides thyra thyra (Cape Peninsula, north-west to Lambert's Bay and east to Matjiesfontein)
Aloeides thyra orientis Pringle, 1994 (Stilbaai to Knysna in the Western Cape)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aloeides thyra.

Wikispecies has information related to: Aloeides thyra

↑ Aloeides at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
↑ Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 2005.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.