De rerum: an acknowlegement and explanation.
INDEX: Linnaean

Monday, May 2, 2011

Tarucus sybaris


I photographed this Dotted Blue at Cumberland, but have also found it at at Bisley.
One of the food plants is Ziziphus mucronota. The Afrikaans name for this tree is Blinkblaar-wag-'n-bietjie is so apt. This translated is: "Blinkblaar": the shiny leaves can make this tree stand out from amongst other trees; "Wag-'n-bietjie": wait a bit, you are caught up in the hook thorns.
The species was originally described by Hopffer 1855 as Lycaena sybaris, then assigned to the genus Tarucus Moore 1881. It appears to be related to the Tuxentius spp. with which it shares food plants.

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