''Spalgis lemolea'', the lemolea harvester or African apefly, 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 ...

in 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 ...

. The species was first described by

Hamilton Herbert Druce Hamilton Herbert Charles James Druce (1869 – 21 June 1922) was an England, English entomologist who specialised in Lycaenidae and to a lesser extent Hesperiidae. He is not to be confused with his father, the English entomologist Herbert Druce, ...

in 1890. It is found in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣� ...

the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 c ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

, Guinea,

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

, from

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

, northern

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 ...

and

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Subtribe Spalgina
/ref> The habitat consists of forests and dense savannah (

Guinea savannah Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

miombo The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized ...

woodland), as well as thick riverine bush. Adults are attracted to water and fresh as well as dry bird droppings. The larvae are broad and slug like and are hairy and either black or dark grey. They resemble the

coccid Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than th ...

s upon which they feed. These include ''

Dactylopius ''Dactylopius'' is a genus of insect in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. It is the only genus in the family Dactylopiidae.Van Dam, A. R. and B. May. (2012)A new species of ''Dactylopius'' Costa (''Dactylopius gracilipilus'' sp. nov.) ...

'' (including ''

Dactylopius longispinus ''Dactylopius'' is a genus of insect in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. It is the only genus in the family Dactylopiidae.Van Dam, A. R. and B. May. (2012)A new species of ''Dactylopius'' Costa (''Dactylopius gracilipilus'' sp. nov.) ...

'', ''Dactylopius virgatus'' var. ''madagascariensis''), ''

Pseudococcus ''Pseudococcus'' is a genus of unarmoured scale insects in the family Pseudococcidae, the mealy bugs. There are more than 150 species of ''Pseudococcus''. Species Species include: *''Pseudococcus aberrans'' *''Pseudococcus acirculus'' *''Pseud ...

'', ''

Phenacoccus ''Phenacoccus'' is a genus of mealybugs in the family Pseudococcidae. There are at least 180 described species in ''Phenacoccus''. See also * List of Phenacoccus species This is a list of 180 species in ''Phenacoccus'', a genus of mealybugs i ...

'', ''

Planococcoides ''Planococcoides'' is a genus of true bugs belonging to the family Pseudococcidae. Species: *''Planococcoides anaboranae'' *''Planococcoides bengalensis'' *''Planococcoides celtis'' *''Planococcoides crassus'' *''Planococcoides formosus'' ...

'', '' Ferrisiana'' and '' Planococcus'' species.

Subspecies

*''Spalgis lemolea lemolea'' (Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon to Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, northern Zimbabwe, Botswana) *''Spalgis lemolea pilos'' H. H. Druce, 1890 (Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon)

References

Butterflies described in 1890 Miletinae Butterflies of Africa {{Miletinae-stub