Iolaus (butterfly)

Iolaus
Iolaus mimosae, figures 1 and 2
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Tribe: Theclini
Genus: Iolaus
Hübner, [1819]
Type species
Papilio eurisus
Cramer, 1779
Synonyms
  • Jolaus
  • Epamera Druce, 1891
  • Argiolaus Druce, 1891
  • Tanuetheira Druce, 1891
  • Trichiolaus Aurivillius, 1898
  • Aphniolaus Druce, 1902[1]
  • Pseudiolaus Riley, 1928
  • Iolaphilus Stempffer & Bennett, 1958
  • Philiolaus Stempffer & Bennett, 1958

Iolaus is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. The genera Argiolaus, Epamera, Iolaphilus and Stugeta are often included in Iolaus. Iolaus species are found in the Afrotropical realm.There are ca. 130 species in Iolaus

Medium-sized butterflies, hind wing with two long tails. The upper side is more or less shiny blue. The undersides are pale greyish-brown, often with a dark transverse line in the dista part or an orange spot at the hind corner of the hindwing.

Most species have larvae that feed onsemi-parasitic plants in the mistletoe family (Viscaceae).

The genus is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, also in southern Arabia, which is biogeographically part of Africa, and north to Israel.

Species

Adalbert Seitz's Fauna Africana pars Iolaus Africa

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References

  1. ^ a b Druce, Hamilton H. (1902). "On some new and little-known Butterflies of the Family Lycænidæ from the African, Australian, and Oriental Regions". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 2 (1): 117–118. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1902.tb08224.x.