Cacyreus tespis

Cacyreus tespis

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Cacyreus
Species:	C. tespis
Binomial name
*Cacyreus tespis* (Herbst, 1804)^[1]
Synonyms
Papilio tespis Herbst, 1804 Papilio palemon Stoll, 1782 Cupido palemon var. fracta Grünberg, 1911 Cacyreus palemon f. ecaudata Stempffer, 1950 Cacyreus palemon ghimirra Talbot, 1935

Cacyreus tespis, the water bronze or water blue, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from South Africa to Ethiopia.

The wingspan is 15–25 mm for males and 17–25 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round in warmer areas, but usually from August to May. At higher altitudes adults are on wing in December and January.^[2]

The larvae feed on the buds and green seeds of Geranium and Pelargonium species.

Subspecies

Cacyreus tespis tespis (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kivu and Maniema, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, North West Province, Gauteng, Free State Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province, Western Cape Province and the Northern Cape Province)
Cacyreus tespis ghimirra Talbot, 1935 (highlands of Ethiopia)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cacyreus tespis.

Wikispecies has information related to: Cacyreus tespis

↑ Cacyreus at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera
↑ Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 2005.

Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 73

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