Hypolycaena hatita

Common fairy hairstreak
H. h. hatita Kakum National Park, Ghana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Hypolycaena
Species:	H. hatita
Binomial name
Hypolycaena hatita Hewitson, 1865 [1]
Synonyms
Hypolycaena japhusaRiley, 1921 Hypolycaena ugandaeSharpe, 1904

Hypolycaena hatita, the common fairy hairstreak, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. ^[2] The habitat consists of primary forests and dense secondary growth.

Adult males have been recorded feeding from bird droppings and are occasionally seen mud-puddling.

The larvae feed on Syzygium species.

Subspecies

• Hypolycaena hatita hatita — Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria: south and the Cross River loop, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo: Mongala, Uele, Ituri, Tshopo, Tshuapa, Kinshasa, Cataractes, Bas-Fleuve, Sankuru and Maniema
• Hypolycaena hatita japhusaRiley, 1921 — western Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia: from the Copperbelt northwards, Democratic Republic of Congo: Shaba
• Hypolycaena hatita ugandaeSharpe, 1904 — Uganda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo: Lualaba, Lomani and Kivu

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.

External links

• Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 68 b