''Thestor petra'', the rock skolly, is a species of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. 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 22–28 mm for males and 26–34 mm for females. Adults are on wing from late November to January. There is one generation per year.

Subspecies

*''Thestor petra petra'' (

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

on the Gydoberg, Tierberg,

Matroosberg Matroosberg (Afrikaans for 'Sailor Mountain') is a peak in the South African Hex River Mountains, which belong to the Cape Fold Belt. With a height of above sea level, it is the highest mountain in the Cape Winelands District Municipality. The ...

and Skurweberg mountains around

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...

) *''Thestor petra tempe'' Pennington, 1962 (Western Cape in the

Klein 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 ...

mountains near

Seweweekspoort Seweweekspoort is a mountain pass located along the R323 regional route running from Zoar and Laingsburg in the western Little Karoo region of South Africa's Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the s ...

, Elandsberg and Rooiberg)

References

* Butterflies described in 1962 Thestor Endemic butterflies of South Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Miletinae-stub