Dira oxylus

Pondoland widow
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Tribe: Satyrini
Genus: Dira
Species: D. oxylus
Binomial name
Dira oxylus
(Trimen, 1881)
Synonyms
  • Leptoneura oxylus Trimen, 1881

Dira oxylus (Pondoland widow) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in from the lower Drakensberg foothills from the eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.[1]

The wingspan is 50–60 mm for males and 55–65 mm for females. Adults are on wing from late December to early March. There is one generation per year[2]

The larvae feed on various Poaceae species, including Ehrharta erecta.

References

  1. Dira, Site of Markku Savela
  2. Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town:Struik Publishers, 2005.
Wikispecies has information related to: Dira oxylus
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dira oxylus.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.