Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Lycaenidae Scientific name Chrysoritis lycegenes | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Chrysoritis Rank Species | |
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Similar Chrysoritis oreas, Chrysoritis pan, Chrysoritis nigricans, Chrysoritis uranus | ||
Chrysoritis lycegenes, the Mooi River opal, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in South Africa, where it is known from northern KwaZulu-Natal to Mpumalanga, along the Drakensberg escarpment to Mariepskop in Limpopo province.
The wingspan is 21–24 mm for males and 23–26 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to October and from December to January. There are two generations per year.
The larvae feed on Diospyros austro-africana, Diospyros lycioides, Myrsine africa, Rhus species and Chrysanthemoides monilifera. They are attended to by Crematogaster liengmei ants.
It is named after the Mooi River in KwaZulu-Natal.
References
Chrysoritis lycegenes Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA