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Aloeides nollothi

(Nolloth's Copper)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Nolloth's Copper

Description

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Family Lycaenidae

'The Lycaenidae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, this family has approximately 4,700 species that are unevenly distributed. Coppers are especially dominant in north temperate regions , blues are richest in the Old World tropics and north temperate zones, and hairstreaks are particularly abundant in New World tropics. The adults are typically small to tiny and often brilliantly colored--iridescent blues, bright reds, and oranges. Adults of both sexes have three pairs of walking legs , though most males have fused segments in their front legs. Most adults visit flowers for nectar, but some harvesters feed on wooly aphid honeydew and some hairstreaks feed on aphid honeydew or bird droppings. Females lay single, sea urchin shaped eggs on host leaves or flower buds; the resulting caterpillars are typically slug-shaped. In many species, caterpillars depend on ants for protection, so caterpillars produce sugary secretions that are collected by the ants. Most species overwinter in either the egg or pupal stage.

'[1]

Subfamily Theclinae

Hairstreaks are members of the Family Lycaenidae. Richest in tropical habitats , hairstreaks are numerous in the Americas and comprise about 1,000 species. In tropical species, the upperside of small to medium-sized adults is often iridescent blue, due to reflected light from the wing scales . However, most of the North American species are brown above. Migration is rare, but a few species (such as the Gray Hairstreak) are good long-distance colonists . Males perch to await mates, and females lay eggs singly. Caterpillars usually feed on leaves or reproductive structures of woody trees or shrubs . Interestingly, the chrysalids of several species can produce sounds between their abdominal segments, likely related to their interactions with ants . Hairstreaks typically overwinter in the egg or pupal stage.[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology: Woodhall (2005) lists the habitats as coastal dunes and flats in succulent Karoo (west coast strandveld). It does not stretch more than a few kilometres inland, but these habitats are found in remote parts of northern South Africa and southern Namibia (Henning et al. 2009). It may also be found in dry coastal scrub . Its flight period is from September to January. The larval food plant and host ant species are unknown.[3].

List of Habitats:

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Aloeides

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 5 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. barklyi (Barkly's Copper) · A. egerides (Red Hill Copper) · A. mullini (Mullin's Copper) · A. nollothi (Nolloth's Copper) · A. nubilus (Cloud Copper)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=16&sci=Lycaenidae&com=Gossamer-wing Butterflies [back]
  2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Euristrymon&search=Search [back]
  3. Larsen, T.B. 2011. Aloeides nollothi. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-07-14