Iolaus timon

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Iolaus timon
Iolaus timon.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Iolaus
Species:
I. timon
Binomial name
Iolaus timon
(Fabricius, 1787) [1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio timonFabricius, 1787
  • Iolaus (Tanuetheira) timon
  • Tanutheira prometheusDruce, 1891
  • Tanuetheira prometheus congoensisJoicey & Talbot, 1921

Iolaus timon, the long-tailed sapphire, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania. [2] The habitat consists of forests.

Contents

Adults of both sexes have been recorded feeding from the large yellow flowers of asteraceous plants and the flowers of Poinsettia species.

The larvae feed on the flowers of Loranthus incanus , Phragmanthera capitata , Phragmanthera usuiensis and Phragmenthera polycrypta . They are dull green.

Subspecies

References

  1. Iolaus at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. "Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Subtribe Iolaina". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2012-08-31.