Iolaus alienus

Iolaus alienus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Iolaus
Species:	I. alienus
Binomial name
Iolaus alienus (Trimen, 1898) [1]
Synonyms
Epamera alienusTrimen, 1898 Jolaus bicaudatusAurivillius, 1905

Iolaus alienus, the brown-line sapphire, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in most of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The wingspan is 33–37 mm for males and 35–40 mm for females. Adults are on wing from August to November (with a peak in September) and sometimes again from April to May in South Africa. There are two generations per year. ^[2]

Larvae have been reported on Loranthus species. The larvae of subspecies I. a. alienus feed on Tapinanthus brunneus , Tapinanthus subulatus , Oliverella rubroviridis and Helixanthera kirkii .

Subspecies

• Iolaus alienus alienus (from KwaZulu-Natal and Transvaal to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, southern Tanzania)
• Iolaus alienus bicaudatusAurivillius, 1905 (northern Cameroon, northern Nigeria, Upper Volta)
• Iolaus alienus ugandaeStempffer, 1953 (Kenya, Uganda, southern Sudan)
• Iolaus alienus sophiaeHenning & Henning, 1991

References

1. Iolaus 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.

External links

• Images representing Iolaus alienus at Barcodes of Life
• Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 69 b and c as bicaudatus Aurivillius, 1905 (synonym).