Cupidopsis iobates

Cupidopsis iobates
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Cupidopsis
Species:	C. iobates
Binomial name
Cupidopsis iobates (Hopffer, 1855)[1]
Synonyms
Lycaena jobates Hopffer, 1855 Cupidopsis mauritanica Riley, 1932 Cupidopsis jobates Cupidopsis iobates uranochroa Ungemach, 1932 Lycaena siwani Trimen, 1862 Cupido iobates ab. conjugens Strand, 1912 Cupido jobates ab. ochreopuncta Aurivillius, 1925

Cupidopsis iobates, the tailed meadow blue, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in most of Africa, south of the Sahara.

The wingspan is 23–30 mm for males and 26–33 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to April and May and sometimes in June and July in subtropical areas.^[2]

The larvae feed on the flowers of low-growing grassland Fabaceae species, including Rhynchosia puberula.

Subspecies

• Cupidopsis iobates iobates (from Kenya and Uganda to the Cape, Angola, Zaire, Togo, Benin, Guinea, Madagascar)
• Cupidopsis iobates mauritanica Riley, 1932 (Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria to Ethiopia)

References

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