''Anthene definita'', the common ciliate blue or common hairtail, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest 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 the known butterfly ...

. It is found in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 21–27 mm for males and 24–29 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round in warmer areas, with a peak in summer. The larvae feed on ''

Allophylus africanus ''Allophylus'' is a genus within the plant family Sapindaceae. A list of species (incomplete): * '' Allophylus agbala'' Hauman * '' Allophylus aldabricus'' Radlk. * '' Allophylus bullatus'' Radlk. * ''Allophylus chartaceus '' (Kurz) Radlkofer * ...

'', '' Pappea capensis'', ''

Mangifera indica ''Mangifera indica'', commonly known as mango, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a large fruit tree, capable of growing to a height of . There are two distinct genetic populations in modern mangoesthe "Indian type ...

'', '' Myrica aethiopica'', '' Myrica sericea'', ''

Acacia karroo ''Vachellia karroo'', commonly known as the sweet thorn, common acacia, Karoo thorn, Cape gum or cockspur thorn, is a species of ''Vachellia'', native to southern Africa from southern Angola east to Mozambique, and south to South Africa. It is ...

'', ''

Acacia cyanophylla ''Acacia saligna'', commonly known by various names including coojong, golden wreath wattle, orange wattle, blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle, and, in Africa, Port Jackson willow, is a small tree in the family Fabaceae. Nati ...

'', ''

Acacia saligna ''Acacia saligna'', commonly known by various names including coojong, golden wreath wattle, orange wattle, blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle, and, in Africa, Port Jackson willow, is a small tree in the family Fabaceae. Nativ ...

'', '' Paraserianthus lophanta'', ''

Schotia ''Schotia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Detarioideae. It occurs in southern Africa. The genus was named for Richard van der Schot by Jacquin who was the director of the Imperial Gar ...

'', ''

Bersama ''Bersama'' is a genus of small trees in family Francoaceae. The genus is distributed across sub-Saharan Africa. The Plant List includes this genus in family Melianthaceae. Species It contains the following species: * ''Bersama abyssinica'' F ...

'' and ''

Kalanchoe ''Kalanchoe'' , also written ''Kalanchöe'' or ''Kalanchoë'', is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. A ''Kalanchoe'' species was one ...

'' species. The larvae are associated with ants of the genus '' Iridomyrmyx''.

Subspecies

*''Anthene definita definita'' (Guinea (Nimbas), Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ituri, North Kivu, Lualaba and Shaba, Uganda, central and western Kenya, to northern Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, North West Province, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province and Western Cape Province) *''Anthene definita nigrocaudata'' (Pagenstecher, 1902) (Ethiopia)

References

Butterflies described in 1899 Anthene Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Arthur Gardiner Butler {{Lycaenesthini-stub