Iolaus alienus

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

Iolaus alienus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Iolaus
Species:
I. alienus
Binomial name
Iolaus alienus
(Trimen, 1898)[1]
Synonyms
  • Epamera alienus Trimen, 1898
  • Jolaus bicaudatus Aurivillius, 1905
Iolaus alienus

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 bicaudatus Aurivillius, 1905 (northern Cameroon, northern Nigeria, Upper Volta)
  • Iolaus alienus ugandae Stempffer, 1953 (Kenya, Uganda, southern Sudan)
  • Iolaus alienus sophiae Henning & 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.
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