Hemiolaus caeculus

Hemiolaus caeculus, the azure hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in East and southern Africa.

Azure hairstreak
Summer form of the nominate subsp.
in Mpumalanga, South Africa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Hemiolaus
Species:
H. caeculus
Binomial name
Hemiolaus caeculus
(Hopffer, 1855)[1]
Synonyms
  • Hypolycaena caeculus (Hopffer, 1855)
  • Iolaus caeculus Hopffer, 1855
  • Hypolycaena dolores Suffert, 1904
  • Hypolycaena caeculus obscurus Suffert, 1904
  • Hypolycaena caeculus ab. duponti Dufrane, 1953
  • Iolaus caeculus tsodiloensis Pinhey, 1969

The wingspan is 30–35 mm for males and 34–38 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round with peaks after rains.[2]

The larvae feed on Olax species, including Olax dissitiflora and Olax obtusifolia.

Subspecies
In Seitz (1910)
  • Hemiolaus caeculus caeculus — Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, eastern Zambia, south-eastern Tanzania
  • Hemiolaus caeculus littoralis Stempffer, 1954 — coast of eastern Kenya and eastern Tanzania, Usambara Mountains
  • Hemiolaus caeculus vividus Pinhey, 1962 — western Zambia, south-western Tanzania, southern Zaire (south-eastern Shaba)
  • Hemiolaus caeculus tsodiloensis (Pinhey, 1969) — northern Botswana

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hemiolaus caeculus.
Wikispecies has information related to Hemiolaus caeculus.
  1. Hypolycaena 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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