Eicochrysops messapus
Species of butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
| Cupreous blue | |
|---|---|
| |
.jpg) | |
| male and wing undersides | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Eicochrysops |
| Species: | E. messapus |
| Binomial name | |
| Eicochrysops messapus | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
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 — South Africa: Western Cape to Free State provinces
- E. m. mahallakoeana (Wallengren, 1857) — South Africa: northern Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, northern Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Limpopo and North West provinces
- E. m. nandiana (Bethune-Baker, 1906) — Kenya, Uganda
- E. m. sebagadis (Guérin-Méneville, 1849) — highlands of Ethiopia
