Iolaus bellina

Updated on Dec 19, 2024

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Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Lycaenidae Rank Species		Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Iolaus
Similar Iolaus iulus, Iolaus timon, Iolaus iasis

Iolaus bellina, the white-spot sapphire, is a butterfly in the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. The habitat consists of forests.

Adults of both sexes have been observed feeding from flowers.

The larvae feed on Loranthus species.

Subspecies

Iolaus bellina bellina (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria: south and the Cross River loop, western Cameroon)

Iolaus bellina exquisita (Riley, 1928) (southern Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania)

Iolaus bellina maris (Riley, 1928) (São Tomé)

References

Iolaus bellina Wikipedia

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