Hypolycaena antifaunus

Large fairy hairstreak
both male H. a. antifaunus Bobiri Forest, Ghana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Hypolycaena
Species:	H. antifaunus
Binomial name
Hypolycaena antifaunus (Westwood, 1851) [1]
Synonyms
Iolaus antifaunusWestwood, 1851 Hypolycaena antifaunus ab. latefasciataDufrane, 1953 Zeltus antifaunus latimaculaJoicey & Talbot, 1921

Hypolycaena antifaunus, the large fairy hairstreak, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae which is native to the African tropics and subtropics.

Range

It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. ^[2]

Habitat and habits

The habitat consists of primary forests. Adult males mud-puddle.

Subspecies

• Hypolycaena antifaunus antifaunus — Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria: south and the Cross River loop, Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, north-western Zambia
• Hypolycaena antifaunus latimacula(Joicey & Talbot, 1921) — Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kivu, Uganda, western Kenya, western Tanzania

References

1. Hypolycaena at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. "Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Subtribe Hypolycaenina". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-07-20.