Chrysoritis thysbe

Opal copper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Chrysoritis
Species:	C. thysbe
Binomial name
Chrysoritis thysbe (Linnaeus, 1764) [1]
Synonyms
Papilio thysbeLinnaeus, 1764 Papilio naisCramer, 1775 Papilio splendensSwainson, 1833 Phasis osbeckiAurivillius, 1882 Poecilmitis psychePennington, 1967 Poecilmitis bamptoniDickson, 1976 Poecilmitis lyndseyaeHenning, 1979 Poecilmitis thysbe schloszaeDickson, 1994 Poecilmitis whiteiDickson, 1994 Poecilmitis mithrasPringle, 1995

Chrysoritis thysbe, the opal copper or common opal, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa.

Description

The wingspan is 24–32 mm for males and 23–35 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round with peaks in October and March. ^[2]

Life cycle

The larvae feed on Chrysanthemoides incana , C. monilifera , Osteospermum polygaloides , Lebeckia plukenetiana , Aspalathus , Zygophyllum and Thesium species.^{[ citation needed ]}

The pupa of C. thysbe osbecki is found on the trunk of various plants like Tylecodon paniculatus, Roepera and Thesium species, all attended to by Crematogaster peringueyi ants, similar to C. thysbe psyche. ^[3]

Subspecies

• Chrysoritis thysbe (nominate subspecies)

Range: Cape Peninsula to Mossel Bay, north to Lamberts Bay, inland to Piketberg and Citrusdal

• Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. osbecki(Aurivillius, 1882)
• Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. psyche(Pennington, 1967)

Range: from Bitterfontein south to Nardouwsberg in the Western Cape

• Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. bamptoni(Dickson, 1976)

(This subspecies was formerly treated as the species Chrysoritis bamptoni) ^[4]

Range: Hondeklipbaai area, inland to Wallekraal in the Northern Cape

• Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. schloszae(Dickson, 1994)

Range: Moorreesburg area in the Western Cape

• Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. whitei(Dickson, 1994)

Range: Port Elizabeth area in the Eastern Cape

• Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. mithras(Pringle, 1995)

Range: Stilbaai to Brenton-on-Sea in the Western Cape

• 
  Nominate subsp.
• 
  C. t. subsp. osbecki
• 
  C. t. subsp. psyche
• 
  C. t. subsp. whitei
• 
  C. t. subsp. bamptoni

References

1. Chrysoritis at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN   978-1-86872-724-7.
3. Heath, A.; Gardiner, A. (2008). "Addendum to Heath et al., 2008: Oviposition behaviour and food plant observations" (PDF). Metamorphosis. 20 (1). The Lepidopterists' Society of Africa: 8–10.
4. Heath, Alan; Pringle, Ernest L.; Quek, Swee-Peck (2023). "Chrysoritis Butler (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Aphnaeinae) – Part III: An integrative taxonomic revision". Metamorphosis. 34 (1). doi: 10.4314/met.v34i1.02 .