Iolaus (genus)

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Iolaus
Butterfly of the genus Iolaus on a jatropha plant, Mozambique

Butterfly of the genus Iolaus on a Jatropha plant, Mozambique

Systematics
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Bluebirds (Lycaenidae)
Subfamily : Lycaeninae
Tribe : Zipfelfalter (Theclini)
Sub tribus : Iolaini
Genre : Iolaus
Scientific name
Iolaus
Huebner , 1819

Iolaus is a genus of butterflies ( butterflies ) from the family of Bläulinge (lycaenidae). It is named after Iolaos , the nephew and companion of the demigod Heracles .

Occurrence

The genus has its distribution in the Afrotropic , individual species such as Iolaus glaucus can also be found in North Africa and the Levant.

Although many butterflies of the genus are rarely found, they have an extremely large distribution area . Butterflies of the species Iolaus alienus, for example, can be found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and the range of Iolaus diametra extends over almost a million square kilometers. For this reason the species of the genus count as hardly endangered despite their low abundance .

Systematics

Over a hundred species of the genus are known, including:

Adalbert Seitz: Fauna Africana , panel with Iolaus timon

swell

literature

  • Torben B. Larsen: The Butterflies of West Africa. Apollo, 2005.

Web links

Commons : Iolaus  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Mark C. Williams: Afrotopical Butterflies: Common Afrotopical Species ( Memento of the original from October 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / atbutterflies.com
  2. Entry on the species Iolaus diametra in the Red List of Endangered Species