Anthene lunulata

Anthene lunulata, the lunulated hairtail and red-spot ciliate blue, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Uele, Ituri, Equateur, Sankuru, Lualaba and Shaba), Angola, Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and north-eastern Botswana.[2] The habitat consists of savanna and forests.

Anthene lunulata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Anthene
Species:	A. lunulata
Binomial name
Anthene lunulata (Trimen, 1894)[1]
Synonyms
Lycaenesthes lunulata Trimen, 1894 Anthene (Anthene) lunulata Lycaenesthes hewitsoni Aurivillius, 1899 Lycaenesthes grosei Aurivillius, 1899 Anthene sanguinea Bethune-Baker, 1910 Lycaenesthes lunulata aquilonis Hulstaert, 1924 Lycaenesthes lunulata ab. magna Hulstaert, 1924

Adults of both sexes are attracted to flowers, including those of Tridax species. Adult males mud-puddle. Adults have been recorded on wing from October to May and in August.

The larvae feed on the young shoots and the outer cortex of the young leaves of Combretum, Acacia, Albizia and Berlinia species, as well as Brachystegia boehmii, Brachystegia spiciformis, Entada abyssinica, Isoberlinea angolensis, Julbernardia globiflora and Parkia filicoides. They are associated with ants of the genus Pheidole, as well as Camponotus acvapimensis and Technomyrmes detorquens. The larvae are yellow green with a darker dorsal line which is sometimes reddish with a mottled appearance due to much yellow striation.

References

1. Anthene at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera
2. "Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Tribe Lycaenesthini". Archived from the original on 2015-02-19. Retrieved 2012-09-07.