Chrysoritis turneri

Chrysoritis turneri
Turner's Opal
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Chrysoritis
Species: C. turneri
Binomial name
Chrysoritis turneri
(Riley, 1938)[1]
Synonyms
  • Poecilmitis turneri Riley, 1938
  • Poeclimitis wykehami Dickson, 1980

Turner's Opal (Chrysoritis turneri) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in South Africa.

The wingspan is 22–26 mm for males and 33–40 mm for females. Adults are on year from September to April, with peaks in October and February (for ssp. turneri) and December (for ssp. amatola).[2]

The larvae feed on Zygophyllum species, Dimorphotheca cuneata and Osteospermum. They are attended to by Crematogaster liengmei ants.

Subspecies

  • Chrysoritis turneri turneri (West Cape, southern Namaqualand)
  • Chrysoritis turneri amatola (Dickson & McMaster, 1967) (East Cape, Lesotho)
  • Chrysoritis turneri wykehami (Dickson, 1980)

References

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