''Iolaus pallene'', the saffron sapphire, is a
butterfly of the family
Lycaenidae. It is found from southern
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 ...
,
Angola, southern
Democratic Republic of the Congo (
Shaba) and
Kenya to
South Africa. In South Africa it is found from the thorn belt of
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 ...
and
Eswatini
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
to
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 ...
,
Gauteng,
Limpopo and
North West.
The
wingspan is 30–35 mm for males and 34–38 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round in warmer areas with peaks in spring and late summer. In the cooler south-western part of its range adults are on wing from September to February.
The larvae feed on ''
Ximenia caffra
''Ximenia caffra'', the sourplum, is a small tree or small shrub that is thinly branched. It is part of the Olacaceae family which is native throughout tropical regions. In particular, the sourplum is native to regions in South East Africa, mai ...
'' and ''
Ximenia americana
''Ximenia americana'', commonly known as tallow wood, hog plum, yellow plum, sea lemon, or pi'ut ( Chamorro), is bush-forming shrub/small tree; a species from the Ximenia genus in the Olacaceae family. It is commonly found in woodlands native ...
''.
References
External links
''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 69''b''
Iolaus (butterfly)
Butterflies described in 1857
{{Theclinae-stub