''Lepidochrysops variabilis'', the variable 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 ...

, from the Cape Peninsula, inland along the western mountains to southern Namaqualand, along the eastern Drakensberg to the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, Lesotho, Mpumalanga, the southern Limpopo, then west to the central Limpopo, North West and the hills of Gauteng. It is also found in eastern

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. 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 28–35 mm for males and 34–37 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to February (with peaks in October and January). There are two generations per year, but only one at high altitudes with adults on wing from December to January. 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 corymbosa ''Selago corymbosa'' is a species of plant in the family Scrophulariaceae. It is endemic to South Africa. Description A perennial, woody, loosely-branching shrublet. One of a group of southern African ''Selago'' species (including '' Selago dolo ...

''), ''

Ocimum ''Ocimum'' is a genus of aromatic annual and perennial herbs and shrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to the tropical and warm temperate regions of all 6 inhabited continents, with the greatest number of species in Africa. It is the genus of ...

'' and ''

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part of the tribe Mentheae within the subfamily Nepetoide ...

'' species. Third and later instar larvae feed on the brood of '' Camponotus niveosetus'' ants.

References

Butterflies described in 1965 Lepidochrysops {{Polyommatini-stub