Chrysoritis felthami

Chrysoritis felthami, the Feltham's opal, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa. It was originally described by Roland Trimen under the name Zeritis felthami.[2] This species was named in honour of Henry Louis Langley Feltham.[2]

Feltham's opal
Set of C. f. dukei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Chrysoritis
Species:
C. felthami
Binomial name
Chrysoritis felthami
(Trimen, 1904)[1]
Synonyms
  • Zeritis felthami Trimen, 1904
  • Poecilmitis felthami
  • Poecilmitis felthami dukei Dickson, 1967

The wingspan is 22–27 mm for males and 23–33 mm for females. Adults are on wing from August to April with peaks in October and February. There are several generations per year.[3]

The larvae feed on Zygophyllum flexuosum and Zygophyllum sessilifolium. They are attended to by Crematogaster peringueyi ants.

Subspecies
  • Chrysoritis felthami felthami (coastal fynbos in Western Cape)
  • Chrysoritis felthami dukei (Dickson, 1967) (Steinkopf area in Northern Cape to Western Cape)

References
  1. Chrysoritis at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Trimen, Roland (1904-06-15). "On some new or imperfectly-known forms of South-African Butterflies". Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. 1904: 231–248 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. 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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