''Anthene amarah'', the black-striped hairtail, leaden hairtail or leaden ciliate blue, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

. It is found in tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

(up to Aqaba). The habitat consists of savanna and occasionally open areas in the forest zone. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 21–26 mm for males and 23–29 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round, with a peak in summer. Laedenceliateblue

The larvae feed on ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' species, including and ''

Acacia karroo ''Vachellia karroo'', commonly known as the sweet thorn, common acacia, Karoo thorn, Cape gum or cockspur thorn, is a species of ''Vachellia'', native to southern Africa from southern Angola east to Mozambique, and south to South Africa. It is ...

'', ''

Acacia sieberana ''Vachellia sieberiana'', until recently known as ''Acacia sieberiana'' and commonly known as the paperbark thorn or paperbark acacia, is a tree native to southern Africa and introduced into Pakistan. It is used in many areas for various purposes ...

'', and '' Acacia gerrardii''. They are associated with a number of ants, including ''Crematogaster bequaerti'' var. ''saga'', ''

Lepisiota affinis ''Lepisiota'' is an Old World genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. They nest in rotten wood, in standing trees or in the ground, generally in less forested areas. Species *''Lepisiota acuta'' Xu, 1994 *''Lepisiota affinis'' (Santschi, 19 ...

'', '' Camponotus'', and '' Myrmicaria'' species.

References

External links

Butterflies described in 1847 Anthene {{Lycaenesthini-stub