Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Iolaus diametra

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Insecta

Family
  
Lycaenidae

Scientific name
  
Iolaus diametra

Phylum
  
Arthropoda

Order
  
Lepidoptera

Genus
  
Iolaus

Rank
  
Species

Similar
  
Iolaus mimosae, Iolaus, Theclinae

Iolaus diametra, the natal yellow-banded sapphire, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Africa, roughly from South Africa to Ethiopia.

The wingspan is 26–28 mm for males and 27–29 mm for females. Adults are on wing from July to December with a peak in October in South Africa. There is one generation per year.

The larvae of subspecies I. d. natalica feed on Actinanthella wylliei. Other recorded food plants are Oliverella hildebrandtii and Englerina woodfordioides.

Subspecies

  • I. d. diametra (northern Tanzania, eastern Kenya, southern Ethiopia)
  • I. d. natalica Vári, 1976 (northern KwaZulu-Natal)
  • I. d. littoralis (Congdon & Collins, 1998) (coast of Kenya, coast of Tanzania)
  • I. d. zanzibarensis (Congdon & Collins, 1998) (Tanzania: Zanzibar)
  • References

    Iolaus diametra Wikipedia