''Tuxentius hesperis'', the western pie, 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

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 ...

. It is found in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, where it is only known from

Groblershoop Groblershoop is a settlement in ZF Mgcawu District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about 2 km west of the Orange River. Groblershoop was founded in 1914 on the farm Sternham, but was renamed in 1939 ...

and

Vioolsdrif Vioolsdrif is a village on the Orange River in the north-western Namaqualand area of South Africa. Origin of name The name in Afrikaans means 'the ford (shallow river crossing) of the violin'. It is reportedly named after Jan Viool ("John Vio ...

and along the banks of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...

in the Northern Cape. The

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 ...

is 18–22 mm for males and 20–23 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round, but are most common from October to December. The larvae feed on ''

Ziziphus mucronata ''Ziziphus mucronata'', known as the buffalo thorn, is a species of tree in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern Africa. It is deciduous and may grow up to 17 metres tall. It can survive in a variety of soil types, occurring in many habitat ...

''.

References

Butterflies described in 1976 Polyommatini {{Polyommatini-stub