Biology:Hypolycaena hatita

Short description: Species of butterfly

Common fairy hairstreak
H. h. hatita Kakum National Park, Ghana
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Hypolycaena
Species:	H. hatita
Binomial name
Hypolycaena hatita Hewitson, 1865
Synonyms
Hypolycaena japhusa Riley, 1921 Hypolycaena ugandae Sharpe, 1904

Hypolycaena hatita, the common fairy hairstreak, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. The habitat consists of primary forests and dense secondary growth.

Adult males have been recorded feeding from bird droppings and are occasionally seen mud-puddling.

The larvae feed on Syzygium species.

Subspecies

• Hypolycaena hatita hatita — Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria: south and the Cross River loop, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo: Mongala, Uele, Ituri, Tshopo, Tshuapa, Kinshasa, Cataractes, Bas-Fleuve, Sankuru and Maniema
• Hypolycaena hatita japhusa Riley, 1921 — western Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia: from the Copperbelt northwards, Democratic Republic of Congo: Shaba
• Hypolycaena hatita ugandae Sharpe, 1904 — Uganda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo: Lualaba, Lomani and Kivu

External links

• Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 68 b

Wikidata ☰ Q13316909 entry