Leptotes Pirithous
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''Leptotes pirithous'', commonly known as Lang's short-tailed blue or common zebra blue, is a
butterfly 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 ...
of the
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
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 ...
.


Description

''Leptotes pirithous'' is a small butterfly with a
wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
of in males and in females. The uppersides of the wings are purple bluish in males, bluish brown in female. The undersides are dark beige striped with white lines. The hindwings show marginal orange and black spots and two small tails. For the design of the undersides of the wings they can be confused with ''
Lampides boeticus ''Lampides boeticus'', the pea blue, or long-tailed blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or gossamer-winged family. Etymology The Latin species name ''boeticus'' refers to Baetica, a province of the Roman Empire in the Iber ...
'' and ''
Cacyreus marshalli The geranium bronze or ''brun des pélargoniums'' in French (''Cacyreus marshalli''), is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The geranium bronze butterfly is native to South Africa. The butterfly was first introduced to Europe in the late 20th ...
''.


Description in Seitz

T. telicanus Lang (? = pirithous L., baeticus Esp.) (77 h; the figure marked male represents a small female). (male violet-blue, female smoky grey with the disc of the forewing bluish white, the intricate markings of the underside appear also above. The underside has on a smoky grey ground a confusion of white lines and rings and around the anal spots of the hindwing very thin blue rings which glitter intensely. South Europe and North Africa, as well as Asia Minor. The form ''bellieri'' Ragusa, from Sicily has the underside more unicolorous, washed out. — Larva dark red, with black-lnown dorsal line and dark oblique stripes; in June and the autumn on ''Melilotus'' and ''Medicago'', said to be found also on ''Calluna vulgaris''. Pupa yellowish brown, with dark markings. The butterflies in the early spring and again late in summer, singly and usually not plentiful. They like to rest on clusters of ''Thymus'' and fly rather fast ; they also appear to migrate in certain years, since the butterfhes, as rare exceptions, have been observed here and there in localities lying far north, for instance at Bale, Stuttgart, Augsburg, Bozen, etc. etc.


Biology

These butterflies fly from February to November depending on the location. They are regular migrants. The larvae feed on the flowers and fruits of
Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...
,
Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but som ...
and
Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort family or the plumbago family. Most species in this family are perennial plant, perennial h ...
species, including ''
Plumbago capensis ''Plumbago auriculata'', the Cape leadwort, blue plumbago or Cape plumbago, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to South Africa and Mozambique."Botanica. The Illustrated AZ of over 10000 garden plants and how to cu ...
'', ''
Indigofera ''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Description ''Indigofera'' is a varied genu ...
'', '' Rynchosia'', ''
Vigna ''Vigna'' is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012)Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new ...
'', '' Burkea'', ''
Mundulea ''Mundulea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes 12 species of small trees and shrubs native to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and India. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of t ...
'', ''
Melilotus ''Melilotus'', known as melilot or sweet clover is a genus of legumes in the family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. The genus is closely related to ''Trifolium'' (clovers). Several species are common grassland plants and weeds of ...
'', ''
Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...
'', ''
Quercus suber ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the core ...
'', ''
Medicago sativa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as we ...
'', ''
Trifolium alexandrinum ''Trifolium alexandrinum'' (Egyptian clover, berseem clover) is an annual clover cultivated mostly in irrigated sub-tropical regions, and used as leguminous crop. It is an important winter crop in Egypt, where it may have been cultivated since an ...
'', ''
Arachis hypogaea The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...
'', ''
Lythrum ''Lythrum'' is a genus of 38 species of flowering plants native to the temperate world. Commonly known as loosestrife (a name they share with ''Lysimachia'', which are not closely related), they are among 32 genera of the family Lythraceae. Desc ...
'', ''
Calluna ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...
'', ''
Genista ''Genista'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, native to open habitats such as moorland and pasture in Europe and western Asia. They include species commonly called broom, though the term may also refer to other gener ...
'', ''
Dorycnium ''Lotus'', a latinization of Greek '' lōtos'' (), is a genus of flowering plants that includes most bird's-foot trefoils (also known as bacon-and-eggs) and deervetches. Depending on the taxonomic authority, roughly between 70 and 150 species a ...
'', ''
Lythrum salicaria ''Lythrum salicaria'' or purple loosestrifeFlora of NW Europe''Lythrum salicaria'' is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Pr ...
'', ''
Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...
'', ''
Onobrychis viciifolia ''Onobrychis viciifolia'', also known as ''O. sativa'' or common sainfoin () was an important forage legume in temperate regions until the 1950s. During the Green Revolution it was replaced by high yielding alfalfa and clover species. Due to its ...
'', ''
Ulex ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are na ...
'' and ''
Melilotus alba ''Melilotus albus'', known as honey clover, white melilot (UK), Bokhara clover (Australia), white sweetclover (US), and sweet clover, is a nitrogen-fixing legume in the family Fabaceae. ''Melilotus albus'' is considered a valuable honey plant ...
''. A life cycle takes about four to eight weeks, depending on the temperature. iSimangaliso Wetland Park iSimangaliso Wetland Park is situated on the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about north of Durban by road. It is South Africa's third-largest protected area, spanning of coastline, from the Mozambique, Mozambican border in the n ...
,
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
, South Africa"> File:Common zebra blue butterflies(Leptotes pirithous pirithous) 01.jpg, ''L. p. pirithous'', 1 of 3
male on left File:Common zebra blue butterflies(Leptotes pirithous pirithous) 02.jpg, ''L. p. pirithous'', 2 of 3
female covers male File:Common zebra blue butterflies(Leptotes pirithous pirithous) 03.jpg, ''L. p. pirithous'', 3 of 3
female on male


Distribution

This species can be found in southern Europe (
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
), along the Mediterranean coast, in
Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
up to the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
, and in most of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
and
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
.


Subspecies

The following subspecies have been identified:''Leptotes''
at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera *''Leptotes pirithous pirithous'' (southern Europe, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, North Africa) *''Leptotes pirithous capverti'' Libert, Baliteau & Baliteau, 2011 (island of
Santo Antão, Cape Verde Santo Antão (Portuguese language, Portuguese for "Anthony the Great, Saint Anthony") is the northwesternmost island of Cape Verde. At , it is the largest of the Barlavento Islands group, and the second largest island of Cape Verde.
) *''Leptotes pirithous insulanus'' (Aurivillius, 1924) (Mozambique Channel)


Habitat

This species prefers varied wasteland, cultivated areas and gardens.


References

Pirithous Pirithous (; or , derived from ; also transliterated as Perithous), in Greek mythology, was the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus. Biography Pirithous was a son of "heavenly" Dia, fathered either ...
Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Lepidoptera of Cape Verde Fauna of Santo Antão, Cape Verde Butterflies described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Polyommatini-stub