''Stugeta subinfuscata'', the dusky sapphire, 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 southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. 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 25–28 mm for males and 27–30 mm for females. Adults are on wing in summer, with peaks in September and October. There are multiple generations per year. The larvae feed on ''

Tapinanthus oleifolius Haustorium and fruit of ''Tapinanthus oleifolius'' thumb"> T. rubromarginatus'' ''Tapinanthus'' is a genus of mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, endemic to Africa">Loranthaceae">Tapinanthus rubromarginatus">T. rubromarginatus'' ''Tapinanthu ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Iolaus subinfuscata subinfuscata'' *''Iolaus subinfuscata reynoldsi'' Dickson, 1980 — succulent karoo and arid savannah in Northern Cape from Garies to Upington and Kuruman, north to Namibia and Botswana

References

External links

''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 67
''c'' Butterflies described in 1910 Taxa named by Karl Grünberg Iolaini {{Theclinae-stub