Axiocerses harpax

Axiocerses harpax
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Axiocerses
Species:	A. harpax
Binomial name
Axiocerses harpax (Fabricius, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
Papilio harpax Fabricius, 1775 Papilio perion Stoll, 1782 Axiocerses harpax piscatoris Clench, 1943

Axiocerses harpax, the Common Scarlet, is a butterfly in the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Oman, Kenya and Tanzania.^[2] The habitat consists of forests, woodland and savanna.

The length of the forewings is 15.5-17.2 mm for males and 14.5-18.5 mm for females. Both sexes are attracted to flowers.

The larvae feed on Acacia drepanolobium and Acacia stenocarpa. They are associated with ants of the Crematogaster and Pheidole genera. They live under the bark of their host plant and are gregarious.

Subspecies

• Axiocerses harpax harpax (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, western Nigeria)
• Axiocerses harpax efulena Clench, 1963 (southern Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo)
• Axiocerses harpax kadugli Talbot, 1935 (Senegal, Mali, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Oman: Dhofar)
• Axiocerses harpax ugandana Clench, 1963 (south-eastern Central African Republic, north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania)

References

1. Axiocerses, Site of Markku Savela
2. Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Tribe Aphnaeini (part 3)