''Iolaus mimosae'', the mimosa sapphire, is a
butterfly of the family
Lycaenidae. It is found in southern
Africa. The habitat consists of
Karoo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...
and
savanna.
The
wingspan is 26–31 mm for males and 30–32 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to March with a peak from October to November. There are one or more generations per year.
The larvae feed on ''
Actinanthella wyliei
''Actinanthella'' is a small genus of hemiparasitic shrubs in the Loranthaceae family. They are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Taxonomy
There are two species in the genus:
*'' Actinanthella meny ...
'', ''
Agelanthus natalitius
''Agelanthus natalitius'' is a species of hemiparasitic plant in the family Loranthaceae, which is native to the Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, the Northern Provinces, South Africa, Eswatini and Botswana.
Habitat and ecology
'' ...
'', ''
Moquinella rubra'', ''
Oncocalyx fischeri
''Oncocalyx'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Loranthaceae.
Its native range is Ethiopia to Southern Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَ ...
'', ''
Plicosepalus curviflorus
''Plicosepalus'' is a genus of hemiparasitic flowering plants belonging to the family Loranthaceae.
Members of the genus are native range to eastern, central and southern Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Species:
*'' Plicosepalus ...
'', ''
Plicosepalus kalachariensis
''Plicosepalus'' is a genus of hemiparasitic flowering plants belonging to the family Loranthaceae
Loranthaceae, commonly known as the showy mistletoes, is a family of flowering plants. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of wood ...
'' and ''
Tapinanthus dichrous
Haustorium and fruit of ''Tapinanthus oleifolius''
thumb"> T. rubromarginatus''
''Tapinanthus'' is a genus of mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, endemic to Africa">Loranthaceae">Tapinanthus rubromarginatus">T. rubromarginatus''
''Tapinanthu ...
''.
Subspecies
*''Iolaus mimosae mimosae'' (South Africa:
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
)
*''Iolaus mimosae berbera''
(Bethune-Baker, 1924) (Somalia, Ethiopia)
*''Iolaus mimosae haemus''
(Talbot, 1935) (north-western Kenya, eastern Uganda)
*''Iolaus mimosae pamelae''
(Dickson, 1976) (northern Namibia)
*''Iolaus mimosae rhodosense''
(Stempffer & Bennett, 1959) (eastern Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, southern Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, eastern Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa:
Limpopo,
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
,
North West,
Gauteng,
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
)
References
Butterflies described in 1874
Iolaus (butterfly)
Butterflies of Africa
Taxa named by Roland Trimen
{{Theclinae-stub