Axiocerses harpax

Axiocerses harpax, the common scarlet, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.

"Common scarlet" redirects here. For the other butterfly with this common name, see Axiocerses tjoane.

Axiocerses harpax
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Axiocerses
Species:
A. harpax
Binomial name
Axiocerses harpax
(Fabricius, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio harpax Fabricius, 1775
  • Papilio perion Stoll, 1782
  • Axiocerses harpax piscatoris Clench, 1943

Range
Visiting a flower in Lagos, Nigeria

It is found in Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, the DRCongo, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Oman, Kenya and Tanzania.[2] The habitat consists of forests, woodland and savanna.

Description

The length of the forewings is 15.5-17.2 mm for males and 14.5-18.5 mm for females.

Biology and food plants

The adults of both sexes are attracted to flowers. The larvae feed on Acacia drepanolobium and Acacia stenocarpa. They are associated with ants of the Crematogaster and Pheidole genera. They live under the bark of their host plant and are gregarious.

Subspecies
  • A. h. harpax – Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, western Nigeria
  • A. h. efulena Clench, 1963 – southern Cameroon, DRCongo
  • A. h. kadugli Talbot, 1935 – Senegal, Mali, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Oman: Dhofar
  • A. h. ugandana Clench, 1963 – south-eastern Central African Republic, north-eastern DRCongo, Uganda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania
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References
  1. Axiocerses at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. "Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Tribe Aphnaeini (part 3)". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-07-03.


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