Coeliades keithloa

Coeliades keithloa, the red-tab policeman, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from Ethiopia south to South Africa.

Coeliades keithloa
Larva on Acridocarpus natalitius
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Coeliades
Species:
C. keithloa
Binomial name
Coeliades keithloa
Synonyms
  • Rhopalocampta keithloa Wallengren, 1857
  • Ismene stella Trimen, 1862
  • Ismene tancred Plötz, 1884
  • Coeliades kenya Evans, 1937
  • Rhopalocampta menelik Ungemach, 1932

The wingspan is 58–64 mm for males and 61–66 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round in warmer areas with peaks in late summer and autumn in southern Africa.[2]

The larvae feed on a wide range of plants, including Barringtonia racemosa, Acridocarpus natalitius, A. zanzibaricus, A. glaucescens, A. ristalitius, Dregea, Combretum and Byrsocarpus species.

Subspecies
  • Coeliades keithloa keithloa (South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province)
  • Coeliades keithloa kenya Evans, 1937 (coast of Kenya, Tanzania: from the northern coast inland to Mount Kilimanjaro)
  • Coeliades keithloa menelik (Ungemach, 1932) (south-western Ethiopia, southern Sudan, Uganda)
  • Coeliades keithloa merua Evans, 1947 (Kenya: north-eastern slopes of Mount Kenya)
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References
  1. Coeliades 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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