''Lepidochrysops oreas'', the peninsula blue, 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

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, where it found in fynbos on the

Swartberg The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Kar ...

range from the Eastern Cape to Seweweekspoort and

Klein Swartberg The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Kar ...

in the Western Cape. It is also found on the

Rooiberg Rooiberg is a town in Waterberg District Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Town, archaeological site and tin-mining area, 50 km west-north-west of Warmbad, at the conjunction of the Springbok Flats with the Waterberg Pl ...

. 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 24–38 mm for males and 27–38 mm for females. Adults are on wing from October to February. There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on ''

Selago ''Selago'' is a genus of plants in the family Scrophulariaceae, closely related to ''Scrophularia'' and ''Verbascum''. It contains around 190 species, mostly in southern Africa; two are listed on the IUCN Red List The International Union for ...

'' species, including ''

Selago serrata ''Selago'' is a genus of plants in the family Scrophulariaceae, closely related to ''Scrophularia'' and ''Verbascum''. It contains around 190 species, mostly in southern Africa; two are listed on the IUCN Red List: * ''Selago lepida'' Hilliard * ...

''.

Subspecies

* ''Lepidochrysops oreas oreas'' (upper slopes of Cape Peninsula Mountains) * ''Lepidochrysops oreas junae'' Dickson, 1974 (mountains east of Cape Flats)

References

Butterflies described in 1964 Lepidochrysops Endemic butterflies of South Africa {{Polyommatini-stub