Biology:Hypolycaena lebona

Short description: Species of butterfly

Hypolycaena lebona
H. l. lebona Kakum National Park, Ghana
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Hypolycaena
Species:	H. lebona
Binomial name
Hypolycaena lebona (Hewitson, 1865)
Synonyms
Thecla lebona Hewitson, 1865 Hypolycaena lebona ab. anomala Dufrane, 1953 Hypolycaena lebona ab. splendens Dufrane, 1953

Hypolycaena lebona, the fairy hairstreak, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania. The habitat consists of forests.

Adults mud-puddle and have also been recorded imbibing moisture from moist wood ash.

The larvae have been recorded feeding on ewo (a word in the Yoruba language). They are associated with ants of the genus Pheidole, including P. aurivillii race kasaiensis. The larvae are deep green in colour.

Subspecies

• Hypolycaena lebona lebona (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria: south and the Cross River loop, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Hypolycaena lebona davenporti Larsen, 1997 (eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, north-western Tanzania)

External links

• Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 67 a
• Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 68 b

Wikidata ☰ Q5959801 entry