Iolaus crawshayi

Iolaus crawshayi, the Crawshay's sapphire, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.^[2] The habitat consists of moist savanna.

The larvae feed on the young leaves of Erianthemum dregei and Phragmanthera usuiensis. They are dull dirty whitish green or brown.

Subspecies

• I. c. crawshayi (Kenya: highlands east of the Rift Valley)
• I. c. elgonae (Stempffer & Bennett, 1958) (Kenya, Uganda)
• I. c. littoralis (Stempffer & Bennett, 1958) (Tanzania: east and inland to Moshi and Korogwe and south to Lindi, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Shaba, Kenya: eastern lowlands and inland to Makindu, the Kitui district and Mount Marsabit)
• I. c. maureli Dufrane, 1954 (Ethiopia, southern Somalia, north-eastern Kenya)
• I. c. niloticus (Stempffer & Bennett, 1958) (Uganda: West Nile district)
• I. c. nyanzae (Stempffer & Bennett, 1958) (Kenya: western highlands, Uganda: Jinja)

References