Lycaena tama
Appearance
Lycaena tama | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Genus: | Lycaena |
Species: | L. tama
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Binomial name | |
Lycaena tama Fereday 1878
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Lycaena tama, the Canterbury alpine boulder copper, is a species of copper which lives on the central South Island of New Zealand.[1]
Description
[edit]A small butterfly with copper wings and a "marginal series of violet dots".[2] It was named tama as a distinct species by R. W. Fereday after "a traditionary Maori chief of that name."[2]
Range
[edit]Lycaena tama lives in the Mackenzie Basin and in the areas around Canterbury. It was first described as being in and around "Drayton Station, on the plains near Mount Hutt; spurs of mountains near Castle Hill Station; and the top of the Mount Hutt range"[2]
Ecology
[edit]Lycaena tama uses the host plant pōhuehue.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Canterbury Alpine Boulder Copper (Lycaena tama)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
- ^ a b c Feredey, R. W. (1877). "Supplementary Description of Species or Varieties of Chrysophani (Lepidoptera rhopalocera) inhabiting New Zealand". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 10. Wellington, New Zealand: 252–259. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ Henderson, Geoff; Patrick, Brian (2020). "New Zealand's pōhuehue (Muehlenbeckia) – a biodiversity powerhouse with an image problem". Canterbury Botanical Society. 51: 47–57.