''Iolaus menas'', the blue savanna sapphire, is a
butterfly in the family
Lycaenidae. The species was
first described by
Hamilton Herbert Druce in 1890. It is found in
Senegal,
the Gambia,
Burkina Faso,
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
,
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
,
Ghana,
Nigeria,
Cameroon,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
,
Ethiopia,
Uganda and
Kenya.
The habitat consists of savanna.
The larvae feed on ''
Loranthus'' species and ''
Tapinanthus bangwensis
''Tapinanthus bangwensis'' is a species of hemiparasitic plant in the family Loranthaceae, which is native to the tropics of western sub-Saharan Africa.
Range
It is native to the forest region from Senegal to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Descripti ...
''.
Subspecies
*''Iolaus menas menas'' (Senegal, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, southern Sudan, Ethiopia)
*''Iolaus menas tatiana''
(d'Abrera, 1980) (northern Uganda, northern Kenya)
References
External links
''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 67''d'', ''g'' female var.
Butterflies described in 1890
Iolaus (butterfly)
Butterflies of Africa
{{Theclinae-stub