Cupidopsis cissus, the common meadow blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in most of Africa, south of the Sahara.

Common meadow blue
Line "g", 4th and 5th images
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cupidopsis
Species:
C. cissus
Binomial name
Cupidopsis cissus
(Godart, [1824])[1]
Synonyms
  • Polyommatus cissus Godart, [1824]
  • Lycaena catharina Trimen, 1862
  • Lampides abberans Butler, 1878
  • Cupido cissus f. albiradiatus Stoneham, 1938
  • Cupido cissus f. immaculatus Stoneham, 1938

The wingspan is 22–34 mm for males and 23–36 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to April and May and sometimes in June and July in subtropical areas.[2]

The larvae feed on the flowers of Eriosema and Vigna species.

Subspecies

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  • Cupidopsis cissus cissus (Senegal: Basse Casamance and south-east, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria: south and the Cross River loop, Kenya, northern Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, North West Province, Gauteng, Free State Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province, Western Cape Province, Northern Cape Province)
  • Cupidopsis cissus extensa Libert, 2003 (Gabon, Congo, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo)

References

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  1. ^ Cupidopsis 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.