Lepidochrysops hypopolia
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| ( Trimen & Bowker , 1887) |
Lepidochrysops hypopolia is probably extinct species of butterfly from the family of Gossamer (Lycaenidae). The species was found in KwaZulu-Natal and Transvaal in South Africa and is only known from three males. Females were never found.
features
The three males collected have a wing span of 19 to 20 mm. The top is dull purple-blue with a narrow brown border. The upper side of the forewings has a distinct median spot, while the upper side of the hind wings has a narrow black spot, which is bordered by an ocher yellow crescent above the anal angle.
habitat
The species was found on grassland .
Discovery history and status
The first two males were collected by Walter Morant on September 21, 1870 at Blue Bank near Ladysmith , KwaZulu-Natal near the Drakensberg . The third male was discovered in 1879 by Thomas Ayres near Potchefstroom , Transvaal . Morant's specimens are in the Natural History Museum in London . The copy of Ayres is kept in the South African Museum in Cape Town . No other specimen has been found since 1879. The reasons for this butterfly's disappearance are unknown. There has been speculation that Lepidochrysops hypopolia could be chemically bleached specimens of the closely related species Lepidochrysops praeterita . However, the upper surfaces are not bleached and the outer edges of the fore wings are more convex than in the males of Lepidochrysops praeterita .
literature
- Stephen F. Henning & Graham A. Henning: South African Red Data Book Butterflies A report of the Committee for Nature Conservation Research, National Program for Ecosystem Research. South African national scientific programs report; No. 158, 1989: p. 132 ISBN 0-7988-4511-2
- GA Henning, RF Terblanche & JB Ball (Eds.): South African Red Data Book: Butterflies . SANBI Biodiversity Series 13, South African National Biodiversity Institute , Pretoria, 2009: p. 54-55 ISBN 978-1-919976-51-8 .
- Roland Trimen & James Henry Bowker: South-African Butterflies: A Monograph of the Extra-Tropical Species Volume 2: Erycinidae and Lycaenidae. , 1887 (reprinted by BiblioBazaar, 2009): p. 30-31. ISBN 978-1-115-12153-8
Web links
- Lepidochrysops hypopolia inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: World Conservation Monitoring Center, 1996. Retrieved December 14, 2013.