Cigaritis ella

Cigaritis ella, the Ella's bar, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from South Africa to the coast of eastern Kenya. In South Africa it is found from the Eastern Cape along the coast to KwaZulu-Natal, then inland to Swaziland, the Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Limpopo, North West and Northern Cape.

Ella's bar
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cigaritis
Species:
C. ella
Binomial name
Cigaritis ella
(Hewitson, [1865])[1]
Synonyms
  • Aphnaeus ella Hewitson, [1865]
  • Spindasis ella
  • Aphnaeus chaka Wallengren, 1875
  • Spindasis ella f. barnesi Stempffer, 1953
  • Spindasis junodi d'Abrera, 1980

The wingspan is 21–24 mm for males and 25–30 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round with peaks from August to October and from March to July.[2]

The larvae feed on Ximenia caffra. The larvae hide in crevices and under the bark of their host plant.

References
  1. Cigaritis at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.


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