Colias electo

Colias electo
Colias electo
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pieridae
Genus: Colias
Species: C. electo
Binomial name
Colias electo
(Linnaeus, 1763) [1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio electo Linnaeus, 1763

Colias electo, the African Clouded Yellow or Lucerne Butterfly, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in eastern and southern Africa, as well as Arabia. The wingspan is 35–40 millimetres (1.4–1.6 in) for males and 32–40 mm (1.3–1.6 in) for females. Adults are on the wing throughout the year, with a peak from April to August.[2] The larvae feed on Medicago sativa, Trifolium, Vicia and Robinia pseudoacacia.

Subspecies

  • Colias electo electo – South Africa, southern Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia
  • Colias electo hecate Strecker, 1905 (Angola, southern Zaire, northern Zambia and north-western Malawi
  • Colias electo pseudohecate Berger, 1940 – Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi, southern Sudan, southern Ethiopia and northern Somalia
  • Colias electo meneliki Berger, 1940 – central and northern Ethiopia and Eritrea
  • Colias electo philbyi Berger, 1953 – southern and western Arabia
  • Colias electo manengoubensis Darge, 1968

References

  1. ^ Colias, Site of Markku Savela
  2. ^ Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 2005.


Stub icon This Pieridae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.