Myrina silenus

Myrina silenus, the common fig-tree blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, southern Arabia and northern Oman.

Common fig-tree blue
Nominate subspecies, Nigeria
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Myrina
Species:
M. silenus
Binomial name
Myrina silenus
(Fabricius, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio silenus Fabricius, 1775
  • Papilio alcides Cramer, [1776]
  • Myrina ficedula Trimen, 1879
  • Papilio corax Stoll, 1781
  • Myrina silenus deserticola Stempffer, 1969
  • Myrina silenus f. nzoiae Stoneham, 1937

The wingspan is 26.5–34 mm for males and 33–41 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round with peaks from September to October and from April to June in the eastern part of the range.[2]

The larvae feed on Ficus species, including F. capensis, F. cordata, F. sur, F. pumila and F. ingens.

M. s. ficedula

Subspecies
  • M. s. silenus
Range: Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Angola, DRC, Chad, Sudan, Uganda, north-western Zambia
  • M. s. nzoiae d'Abrera, 1980
Range: Ethiopia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, northern Oman, western and northern Kenya
  • M. s. ficedula (Trimen, 1879)
Range: southern Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia: Caprivi, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces
  • M. s. penningtoni Dickson & Stephen, 1971
Range: western South Africa: Western Cape to Northern Cape
  • M. s. suzannae Larsen & Plowes, 1991
Range: northern Namibia

References
  1. Myrina 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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