''Aloeides'', commonly called coppers, is a genus of

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of ...

. Most can be found in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

(49 species), but a few species occur as far north as

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

(8 species).

General Description

The butterflies of this genus inhabit grassy areas with bare patches, such as grassy

fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

in the western and eastern cape, or highvield grasslands in other provinces. ''Aloeidis'' males exhibit territorial behavior, claiming specific areas on road verges and unsurfaced roads where they can counter females and mate. These butterflies of this genus are observed to have a preference for host '' Apalathus'' plants, except '' Aloeides pallida.'' Aloeides butterflies are

polyphagous Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγε ...

, recorded to have been feeding on six plant species from four families. Ant species '' Monomorium fridae'' and ''

Lepisiota capensis 250px, Milking plant lice on a '' Cussonia'' leaf ''Lepisiota capensis'', commonly known as the small black sugar ant, is an Old World ant in the subfamily Formicinae. It is found in countries of the Afrotropical, Malagasy, Oriental, and Palaea ...

'' act as larval hosts, in an obligate dependence association.

Species

Listed alphabetically within groups.Tite & Dickson; The Genus Aloeides and allied genera (Lycaenidae), ''Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology'' 29:, pages 225-280 (1973) *The "thyra" species group: **'' Aloeides apicalis'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – pointed copper **'' Aloeides arida'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – arid copper **'' Aloeides bamptoni'' Tite & Dickson, 1977 – Brampton's copper **'' Aloeides braueri'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Brauer's copper **'' Aloeides caledoni'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 – Caledon copper **'' Aloeides clarki'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Coega copper **'' Aloeides dentatis'' (Swierstra, 1909) – Roodepoort copper **'' Aloeides depicta'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – depicta copper **'' Aloeides dryas'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Transvaal copper **'' Aloeides egerides'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Red Hill copper **'' Aloeides gowani'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Gowan's copper **'' Aloeides juana'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Juana copper **'' Aloeides kaplani'' Tite & Dickson, 1977 – Kaplan's copper **'' Aloeides lutescens'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Worcester copper **'' Aloeides margaretae'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Margarite's copper **'' Aloeides nollothi'' Tite & Dickson, 1977 – Nolloth's copper **'' Aloeides oreas'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Oreas copper **'' Aloeides pallida'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – giant copper **'' Aloeides penningtoni'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Pennington's copper **'' Aloeides pringlei'' Tite & Dickson, 1976 – Pringle's copper **'' Aloeides quickelbergei'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Quickelberge's copper **'' Aloeides rileyi'' Tite & Dickson, 1976 – Riley's copper **'' Aloeides simplex'' (Trimen, 1893) – dune copper **'' Aloeides thyra'' (Linnaeus, 1764) – red copper **'' Aloeides vansoni'' Tite & Dickson, 1968 – Van Son's copper *unnamed species group A: **'' Aloeides almeida'' (C. Felder, 1862) – Almeida copper **'' Aloeides aranda'' (Wallengren, 1857) – Aranda copper **'' Aloeides barklyi'' (Trimen, 1874) – Barkly's copper **'' Aloeides conradsi'' (Aurivillius, 1907) – Conrad's copper **'' Aloeides damarensis'' (Trimen, 1891) – Damara copper **'' Aloeides griseus'' Riley, 1921 **'' Aloeides henningi'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 – Henning's copper **'' Aloeides macmasteri'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 – McMaster's copper **'' Aloeides molomo'' (Trimen, 1870) – molomo copper **'' Aloeides pierus'' (Cramer,

779 __NOTOC__ Year 779 ( DCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 779 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...

– dull copper **'' Aloeides plowesi'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 – Plowes' copper **'' Aloeides stevensoni'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 – Stevenson's copper **'' Aloeides susanae'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 – Susan's copper **'' Aloeides swanepoeli'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 – Swanepoel's copper **'' Aloeides taikosama'' (Wallengren, 1857) – dusky copper **'' Aloeides trimeni'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 – Trimen's copper *unnamed species group B: **'' Aloeides angolensis'' Tite & Dickson, 1973 **'' Aloeides argenteus'' Henning & Henning, 1994 – silvery copper **'' Aloeides barbarae'' Henning & Henning, 1994 – Barbara's copper **'' Aloeides caffrariae'' Henning, 1987 – border copper **'' Aloeides carolynnae'' Dickson, 1983 – Carolynn's copper **'' Aloeides dicksoni'' Henning, 1987 – Diskson's copper **'' Aloeides maluti'' Pringle, 1983 – Maluti copper **'' Aloeides mbuluensis'' Pringle, 1994 – Mbulu copper **'' Aloeides merces'' Henning & Henning, 1986 – Wakkerstroom copper **'' Aloeides monticola'' Pringle, 1994 – Cederberg copper **'' Aloeides mullini'' Henning & Henning, 1996 – Mullin's copper **'' Aloeides namibiensis'' Henning & Henning, 1994 – Namibia copper **'' Aloeides nubilus'' Henning & Henning, 1982 – cloud copper **'' Aloeides rossouwi'' Henning & Henning, 1982 – Rossouw's copper **'' Aloeides tearei'' Henning & Henning, 1982 – Teare's copper **'' Aloeides titei'' Henning, 1987 – Tite's copper

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lycaenidae genera Taxa named by Jacob Hübner Taxonomy articles created by Polbot