Tomares mauretanicus
Appearance
Tomares mauretanicus | |
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Living specimen | |
Male (top) and female | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Genus: | Tomares |
Species: | T. mauretanicus
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Binomial name | |
Tomares mauretanicus | |
Synonyms | |
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Tomares mauretanicus, the Moroccan hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
Description
[edit]The wingspan is 28–30 mm.
Habitat
[edit]Grassy places from sea level to 2400 m
Distribution
[edit]It is found only in northern Africa.
Life cycle and behaviour
[edit]The butterfly flies from January to March. In the High Atlas it flies into June.
The larvae feed on Hippocrepis multisiliquosa, Hippocrepis minor, Hedysarum pallidum, Astragalus epiglottis and Astragalus pentaglottis. The eggs are laid in clusters on the leaves of the host plant. The species flies on hot, dry hillsides and it has been known to 'hilltop'.
Subspecies
[edit]- Tomares mauretanicus mauretanicus (Algeria)
- Tomares mauretanicus antonius (Brévignon, 1984) (Middle Atlas in Morocco)
- Tomares mauretanicus amelnorum (Tarrier, 1997) (Anti-Atlas in Morocco)[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Savela, Markku (March 10, 2019). "Tomares mauretanicus (Lucas, 1849)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
- ^ parc naturel d'Ifrane Archived 2009-04-12 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
[edit]Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tomares mauretanicus.
Wikispecies has information related to Tomares mauretanicus.
- Higgins, L. G. and N. D. Riley (1971). Europas dagsommerfugle. Gads Forlag.
- Tennent, John (1996). The Butterflies of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Gem Publishing Company.
- Tolman, Tom (1997). Europas sommerfugle. Gads Forlag.