''Laeosopis'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

butterfly genus in 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 ...

. Its only species is ''Laeosopis roboris'', the Spanish purple hairstreak, which is found on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

and south-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

."''Laeosopis'' Rambur, 1858"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' 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 12–15 mm.

Description in Seitz

''L. roboris'' Esp. (= ''evippus'' Hbn.) (72 d). Upperside black, with ultramarine scaling in the male from the base to the broad outer area, in the female only in the basal area. Underside ashy grey, with a yellow margin in which stand light blue spots and before which are proximally pale-edged black dots. Only in South France, especially the Pyrenees, and Spain. — ''lusitanica'' Stgr. (72 d) is the form from Portugal, which is more glossy yellow beneath and has a broad yellowish red marginal band bearing hardly any spots on the forewing. Whereas nymotypical ''roboris'' occurs in South Spain, Staudinger obtained a transitional form in Castilia. Egg globular, reddish. Larva woodlouse-shaped, grey, with short black bristles, two dark yellow, interrupted dorsal lines, between which there is a black spot behind the head; venter dirty yellow, legs yellow. Sluggish, but feeds quickly (Hofner). From April till the end of May on ash and privet. Pupa barrel-shaped, fastened with several separate threads. The butterflies occur from June till the autumn in valleys with trees and shrubs and are plentiful in some places; they settle particularly on ash and chestnut, and when disturbed generally return to the same spot and therefore are easily obtainedin good condition (Elwes). The butterfly flies from April to October depending on the location.

Subspecies

*''L. r. escorialensis'' Oberthür 1910 *''L. r. lusitanica'' Staudinger,

892 Year 892 ( DCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Poppo II, duke of Thuringia (Central Germany), is deposed by King Arnul ...

/small> Portugal *''L. r. demissa'' Verity, 1943 Italy *''L. r. higginsi'' Agenjo, 1963 Spain (Granada) *''L. r. magis'' Agenjo, 1963 north-western Spain *''L. r. mudarra'' Agenjo, 1963 north-eastern Spain *''L. r. portaensis'' Betti, 1977 eastern Pyrenees *''L. r. thiersi'' Betti, 1977 southern France

Biology

The larvae feed primarily on ''

Fraxinus excelsior ''Fraxinus excelsior'', known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Albor ...

'', but also other ''

Fraxinus ''Fraxinus'' (), common name, commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of Subtropics, subtropic ...

'' species and possibly ''

Ligustrum vulgare ''Ligustrum vulgare'' (wild privet, also sometimes known as common privet or European privet) is a species of ''Ligustrum'' native to central and southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, from Ireland and southwestern Sweden south to M ...

''.

References

External links

Butterflies of Europe
Theclini Lycaenidae genera Taxa named by Jules Pierre Rambur Butterflies of Europe Monotypic butterfly genera {{Theclinae-stub