Chrysoritis thysbe

Species of butterfly

Opal copper

Chrysoritis thysbe
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Arthropoda
Class:  | Insecta
Order:  | Lepidoptera
Family:  | Lycaenidae
Genus:  | Chrysoritis
Species:  |

C. thysbe

Binomial name
Chrysoritis thysbe

(Linnaeus, 1764)[1]

Synonyms

* Papilio thysbe Linnaeus, 1764
* Papilio nais Cramer, 1775
* Papilio splendens Swainson, 1833
* Phasis osbecki Aurivillius, 1882
* Poecilmitis psyche Pennington, 1967
* Poecilmitis bamptoni Dickson, 1976
* Poecilmitis lyndseyae Henning, 1979
* Poecilmitis thysbe schloszae Dickson, 1994
* Poecilmitis whitei Dickson, 1994
* Poecilmitis mithras Pringle, 1995

Chrysoritis thysbe, the opal copper or common opal, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa.

The wingspan is 24–32 mm for males and 23–35 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round with peaks in October and March.[2]

The larvae feed on Chrysanthemoides incana, C. monilifera, Osteospermum polygaloides, Lebeckia plukenetiana, Aspalathus, Zygophyllum and Thesium species. They are attended to by Crematogaster peringueyi ants.

## Subspecies[edit]

* Chrysoritis thysbe (nominate subspecies)

Range: Cape Peninsula to Mossel Bay, north to Lamberts Bay, inland to Piketberg and Citrusdal

* Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. osbecki (Aurivillius, 1882)
* Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. psyche (Pennington, 1967)

Range: from Bitterfontein south to Nardouwsberg in the Western Cape

* Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. bamptoni (Dickson, 1976)

Range: Hondeklipbaai area, inland to Wallekraal in the Northern Cape

* Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. schloszae (Dickson, 1994)

Range: Moorreesburg area in the Western Cape

* Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. whitei (Dickson, 1994)

Range: Port Elizabeth area in the Eastern Cape

* Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. mithras (Pringle, 1995)

Range: Stilbaai to Brenton-on-Sea in the Western Cape

* Nominate subsp.

* C. t. subsp. osbecki

* C. t. subsp. psyche

* C. t. subsp. whitei

## References[edit]

1. ^ Chrysoritis at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. ^ Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.

Wikispecies has information related to Chrysoritis thysbe.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chrysoritis thysbe.

Taxon identifiers|

* Wikidata: Q26869709
* Wikispecies: Chrysoritis thysbe
* BOLD: 32918
* GBIF: 8951523
* iNaturalist: 549519
* IUCN: 162640130
* NCBI: 140344

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