Chrysoritis nigricans (Aurivillius 1924)

Heath, Alan, 2023, Chrysoritis Butler (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Aphnaeinae) - Part III: An integrative taxonomic revision, Metamorphosis 34 (1), pp. 11-28 : 25

Chrysoritis nigricans (Aurivillius 1924) .

Phasis thysbe var. nigricans Aurivillius 1924: 430 .

Holotype: Iziko Museum. Type locality: Muizen Mts. (the three samples here were collected at low elevation at Pella Mission, Mamre). Host ant: Crem. alulai .

MPT: sloping ground, mostly montane but low elevation at Pella, Mamre, including samples in this study. Juvenile stages of C. nigricans are illustrated in Clark & Dickson 1971: 199 and here in Fig. 18 .

Note that the pupae are a pale yellowish; this colour is also seen in C. zwartbergae and some (but not all) C. uranus pupae (A. Heath, pers. obs.); all others in the thysbe clade have been brown to olive-brown. Morphologically similar to C. zwartbergae but consistent differences are apparent (description in C. zwartbergae ).

Taxonomy: In the COI tree, this species is monophyletic and appears as sister to C. adonis , another montane species.

Conservation status: LC.

Figures

Figure 18 – C. nigricans (Pella, Mamre).1st instar (top); final instar (bottom). Not to scale.