''Chrysoritis'', commonly called opals or 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 ...
found mainly in southern Africa and particularly South Africa.
Species
Species of the genus include:
''Chrysoritis''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
The ''chrysaor'' species group:
* '' Chrysoritis aethon'' (Trimen, 1887) – Lydenburg opal
* '' Chrysoritis aureus'' (van Son, 1966) – Heidelberg copper or golden opal
* '' Chrysoritis lycegenes'' (Trimen, 1874) – Mooi River opal
* '' Chrysoritis lyncurium'' (Trimen, 1868) – Tsomo River opal or Tsomo River copper
* '' Chrysoritis midas'' (Pennington, 1962) – Midas opal
* '' Chrysoritis natalensis'' (van Son, 1966) – Natal opal
* '' Chrysoritis phosphor'' (Trimen, 1866) – scarce scarlet or golden flash
The ''chrysantas'' species group:
*'' Chrysoritis chrysantas'' (Trimen, 1868) – Karoo daisy copper
The ''oreas'' species group:
* '' Chrysoritis dicksoni'' (Gabriel, 1947) – Dickson's copper or Dickson's strandveld copper
* '' Chrysoritis oreas'' (Trimen, 1891) – Drakensberg copper or Drakensberg daisy copper
The ''pyroeis'' species group:
* '' Chrysoritis felthami'' (Trimen, 1904) – Feltham's opal
* '' Chrysoritis pyroeis'' (Trimen, 1864) – sand-dune opal
The ''thysbe'' species group:
* '' Chrysoritis adonis'' (Pennington, 1962) – Adonis opal
* '' Chrysoritis aridus'' (Pennington, 1953) – Namaqua opal
* '' Chrysoritis azurius'' (Swanepoel, 1975) – azure opal
* '' Chrysoritis beaufortius'' (Dickson, 1966) – Beaufort's opal
* '' Chrysoritis beulah'' (Quickelberge, 1966) – Beulah's opal
* '' Chrysoritis blencathrae'' (Heath & Ball, 1992) – Waaihoek opal
* '' Chrysoritis braueri'' (Pennington, 1967) – Brauer's opal
* '' Chrysoritis brooksi'' Riley, 1938 – Brook's opal
* '' Chrysoritis chrysaor'' (Trimen, 1864) – golden copper or burnished opal
* '' Chrysoritis daphne'' (Dickson, 1975) – Daphne's opal
* ''Chrysoritis endymion
''Chrysoritis endymion'', the Endymion opal, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is endemic to South Africa.
The wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the oppo ...
'' (Pennington, 1962) – Endymion opal
* '' Chrysoritis irene'' (Pennington, 1968) – Irene's opal
* '' Chrysoritis nigricans'' (Aurivillius, 1924) – dark opal
* '' Chrysoritis orientalis'' (Swanepoel, 1976) – eastern opal
* '' Chrysoritis palmus'' (Stoll, 781 – water opal
* '' Chrysoritis pan'' (Pennington, 1962) – Pan opal
* '' Chrysoritis pelion'' (Pennington, 1953) – Machacha opal
* '' Chrysoritis penningtoni'' (Riley, 1938) – Pennington's opal
* '' Chrysoritis perseus'' (Henning, 1977) – Perseus opal
* '' Chrysoritis plutus'' (Pennington, 1967) – Plutus opal
* '' Chrysoritis pyramus'' (Pennington, 1953) – Pyramus opal
* '' Chrysoritis rileyi'' (Dickson, 1966) – Riley's opal
* '' Chrysoritis swanepoeli'' (Dickson, 1965) – Swanepoel's opal
* '' Chrysoritis thysbe'' (Linnaeus, 1764) – opal copper or common opal
* '' Chrysoritis trimeni'' (Riley, 1938) – Trimen's opal
* '' Chrysoritis turneri'' (Riley, 1938) – Turner's opal
* '' Chrysoritis uranus'' (Pennington, 1962) – Uranus opal
* '' Chrysoritis violescens'' (Dickson, 1971) – violet opal
The ''zeuxo'' species group:
* '' Chrysoritis coetzeri'' Dickson & Wykeham, 1994 (may be included in ''C. zonarius'')[
* '' Chrysoritis cotrelli'' – Cotrell's daisy copper (may be included in ''C. zeuxo'')][
* '' Chrysoritis zeuxo'' (Linnaeus, 1764) – jitterbug daisy copper
* '' Chrysoritis zonarius'' (Riley, 1938) – donkey daisy copper
]
''Poecilmitis''
Formerly separated in genus ''Poecilmitis'':
* '' Poecilmitis adonis'' now ''C. adonis''
* '' Poecilmitis aureus'' now ''C. aureus''
* '' Poecilmitis azurius'' now ''C. azurius''
* '' Poecilmitis balli'' now ''C. pyramus balli''
* '' Poecilmitis daphne'' now ''C. daphne''
* '' Poecilmitis endymion'' now ''C. endymion''
* '' Poecilmitis henningi'' now ''C. pan henningi''
* '' Poecilmitis hyperion'' now ''C. swanepoeli hyperion''
* '' Poecilmitis irene'' now ''C. irene''
* '' Poecilmitis kaplani'' now ''C. beaufortius stepheni''
* '' Poecilmitis lyncurium'' now ''C. lyncurium''
* '' Poecilmitis lyndseyae'' now ''C. thysbe bamptoni''
* '' Poecilmitis orientalis'' now ''C. orientalis''
* '' Poecilmitis pan'' now ''C. pan''
* '' Poecilmitis penningtoni'' now ''C. penningtoni''
* '' Poecilmitis pyramus'' now ''C. pyramus''
* '' Poecilmitis rileyi'' now ''C. rileyi''
* '' Poecilmitis stepheni'' now ''C. beaufortius stepheni''
* ''Poecilmitis swanepoeli
''Chrysoritis swanepoeli'', the Swanepoel's opal, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is endemic to South Africa, where it is found in the Swartberg Pass and Schoemanskloof, the Groot Swartberg, the Huis River Pass and Gamk ...
'' now ''C. swanepoeli''
* '' Poecilmitis trimeni'' now ''C. trimeni''
* '' Poecilmitis wykehami'' now ''C. turneri wykehami''
References
Butterflies of Africa
Lycaenidae genera
Taxa named by Arthur Gardiner Butler
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Aphnaeini-stub