| Erikssonia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| E. acraeina and E. cooksoni | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Subfamily: | Aphnaeinae |
| Genus: | Erikssonia Trimen, 1891 |
Erikssonia is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. They are found on sandy substrates, though E. edgei appears to be found on more loamy sand than its congeners. [1] They are slow fliers.
Members are characterized by small heads, glabrous eyes, and long palpi where the second segment is laterally compressed. The antennae are short and lack a distinct club. The thorax is short and slender, while the male foreleg tarsus is longer than tibia and equipped with spicules. The foreleg also features a sharp foretarsal claw, and the mid and hindlegs possess tibial spicules with large and robust claws. [2]
The wings exhibit an arched base with a straight or weakly arched costa. The hindwings are oval with an obtuse extension at 1A+2A, while the forewings are equipped with twelve veins.
The hook-like structure, uncus, is crescent shaped. Its subunci are long and curved, and the tegumen has a convex proximal edge. The ninth ventral segment, or the vinculum, is narrow with a rounded saccus, and the juxta is shield-shaped with a deep notch on its upper edge. The valves are cylindrical and thin out distally, havingupper processes. The inseminating organ, the aedeagus, is swollen at the base. These structures also contain an obliquely truncate tip and lateral cornuti, along with the protective sheath, the vesica which holds large cornuti. [3] [4]
Erikssonia is closely related to the genus Aloeides, [5] with additional affinities to Tylopaedia and Aphnaeus. Key differences in comparision to Aloeides include [4] [2] :
The key to identifying species within the genus Erikssonia is based on specific wing characteristics. If the hindwing underside's marginal area is divided into distinct pale spots, the species is identified as Erikssonia cooksoni . However, if this marginal area is not divided into pale spots, the identification proceeds to examining the forewing. In the case of Erikssonia alaponoxa , the forewing is elongated with a straight margin that is angled at M2 region, displaying reddish-orange upper side and blackened wing base coloration. In contrast, Erikssonia acraeina exhibits a forewing that is not elongated, with margin that is neither straight nor angled at the M2 region. Its upperside is orange, and the wing bases are entirely unblackened. [2] [6]
There are four species: [7]
The Aphnaeinae are a subfamily of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae.
Aloeides, commonly called coppers, is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. Most can be found in South Africa, but a few species occur as far north as Kenya.
Aloeides dentatis, the Roodepoort copper, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Lesotho and South Africa.
Aloeides nollothi, the Nolloth's copper, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Namibia and the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
Erikssonia acraeina, the Eriksson's copper, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It was long thought to be monotypic within the genus Erikssonia. It is found in the southern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern and south-eastern Angola, and western and north-western Zambia.
Anthene is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae, commonly called the ciliate blues or hairtails. The genus was erected by Edward Doubleday in 1847.
Aphnaeus is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. The species of this genus are found in the Afrotropical realm.
Tylopaedia is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. It is monotypic containing only the species Tylopaedia sardonyx, the king copper, which is found in South Africa and Namibia.
Erikssonia edgei, commonly known as the Waterberg copper, tilodi copper or Edge's acraea copper, is an obligate myrmecophylous lycaenid butterfly, which is native to Limpopo, South Africa. The critically endangered butterfly occurs in high-altitude grasslands on sandy substrates, and has only been obtained from the type and one subsequent locality. The population at the type locality, a farm in the Waterberg, went extinct about 12 years after its 1980 discovery. It was afforded species status in 2010, when no extant populations were known. The status of two populations, discovered in 2013 at a private nature reserve to the southeast, remains indeterminate.
Erikssonia cooksoni, the Cookson's copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by Hamilton Herbert Druce in 1905. It is found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Lualaba) and north-western Zambia. It is found in sparse miombo woodland with low herbs.
Aloeides pallida, the giant copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa
Aloeides simplex, the dune copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, where it is known from sandy areas in the Kalahari and arid savannah, the red dunes from Kuruman, Hotazel and further west in the Northern Cape.
Aloeides margaretae, the Marguarite's copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, where it is known from the western coast and along the south coast in the Western Cape.
Aloeides apicalis, the pointed copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, where it is known from Western Cape and the Northern Cape.
Aloeides depicta, the depicta copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, where it is known from fynbos and Nama Karoo along the mountains from Matjiesfontein to Gydo Mountain and the Eastern Cape.
Aloeides pierus, the dull copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, where it is found in the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, as well as the Free State.
Aloeides damarensis, the Damara copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae from South Africa.
Aloeides molomo, the molomo copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in southern Africa.
Aloeides taikosama, the dusky copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. In South Africa it is found from the eastern Western Cape to the Eastern Cape, the Free State, northern KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and the eastern Northern Cape.
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