Tuxentius cretosus

Tuxentius cretosus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Tuxentius
Species:	T. cretosus
Binomial name
	Tuxentius cretosus; (Butler, 1876)
Synonyms
	Castalius cretosus Butler, 1876; Castalius lactinatus Butler, 1886; Lycaena nodieri Oberthür, 1883; Castalius anomalogramma Bethune-Baker, 1911; Castalius usemia Neave, 1904;

Tuxentius cretosus, the savanna pied Pierrot, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Senegal, the Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya.^[2] The habitat consists of dry savanna and Guinea savanna.

It differs from Tuxentius calice gregorii (Butler, 1894) thus: Marginal band of the forewing above irregular with 1 to 4 distinctly prominent white spots. Submarginal line of the forewing beneath entirely coherent, not interrupted by the light veins.^[3]

The larval host plant also serves as the nectar source for the adults. Adult males mud-puddle.

The larvae feed on Ziziphus jujuba.

Subspecies

Tuxentius cretosus cretosus (Ethiopia, coast of Kenya)
Tuxentius cretosus lactinatus (Butler, 1886) (Somalia)
Tuxentius cretosus nodieri (Oberthür, 1883) (Senegal, the Gambia, Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, Mali, northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon)
Tuxentius cretosus usemia (Neave, 1904) (Uganda, northern and western Kenya)

References

^ Tuxentius at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera
^ Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Tribe Polyommatini (part 1)
^ Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

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[1] Tuxentius at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera

[ATBUT-2] Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Tribe Polyommatini (part 1)

[3] Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

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