''Tylopaedia'' is a

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 ...

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 ...

. It is

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 ...

containing only the species ''Tylopaedia sardonyx'', the king copper, which is found in

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 ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. 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 32–40 mm for males and 35–50 mm females. Adults are on wing from August to December and from January to April in two generations per year. The larvae feed on ''

Aspalathus spinosa ''Aspalathus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The yellow flowers and spiny habit of some species have suggested a resemblance to ''Ulex europaeus'', the thorny " English gorse" Accordingly, "Cape Gorse" has been proposed ...

'', '' Phylica olaefolia'', and ''

Euclea undulata ''Euclea'', from the Greek '' eukleia'' meaning "glory and fame", denotes a group of flowering plants in the Ebenaceae or ebony family. They were described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1774. The genus includes evergreen trees and shrubs, native to ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Tylopaedia sardonyx sardonyx'' (eastern Western Cape to Namaqualand and near Karuman in the Northern Cape, north into Botswana, east to the Eastern Cape and the Free State) *''Tylopaedia sardonyx peringueyi'' (Dickson, 1969) (Western Cape) *''Tylopaedia sardonyx cerita'' Henning & Henning, 1998 (central Namibia)

References

Aphnaeinae Monotypic butterfly genera Lycaenidae genera {{Lycaeninae-stub