Pentila tropicalis

Pentila tropicalis, the tropical pentila or spotted buff, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in eastern Africa.

Pentila tropicalis
P. t. tropicalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Pentila
Species:
P. tropicalis
Binomial name
Pentila tropicalis
(Boisduval, 1847)[1]
Synonyms
  • Tingra tropicalis Boisduval, 1847
  • Tingra lasti Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1889
  • Pentila lasti (dry-season form)
  • Pentila amenaida chyulu van Someren, 1939
  • Tingra mombasae Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1889
  • Pentila mombassae ab. sigiensis Strand, 1910

The wingspan is 29–38 mm for males and 34–44 mm for females. Subspecies P. t. tropicalis has two generations per year, with adults on wing in October and November and from January to April. Subspecies P. t. fuscipunctata has continuous broods from November to April.[2]

The larvae feed on species of cyanobacteria.

Subspecies
  • P. t. tropicalis (KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi)
  • P. t. chyulu van Someren, 1939 (south-eastern Kenya (Chyulu Hills))
  • P. t. fuscipunctata Henning & Henning, 1994 (sheltered riverine lowland forest of the eastern Limpopo province and further north)
  • P. t. mombasae (Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1889) (coastal forests of eastern Kenya and eastern Tanzania)

References
  1. Pentila at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.


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