Chrysoritis irene (Pennington 1968)

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

Chrysoritis irene (Pennington 1968) .

Poecilmitis irene Pennington 1968: 7 .

Holotype: Ditsong NM. Type locality: Du Toit’s Kloof Pass . C. irene also occurs at Greyton (M. Schlosz, pers comm.); so far recorded on mid to high elevation slopes.

MPT: below kranzes (cliffs) at the type locality, see Heath & Kaliszewska (2013: 18). Host ant: Crem. gallicola or Crem. amabilis . Host plant record: Dimorphotheca chrysanthemifolia (Vent.) DC. ( Asteraceae ) at its type locality although reared on Zygophyllaceae species in captivity (by A. Heath and M. Schlosz, [pers. com.]). Taxonomy: This taxon is sister to C. swanepoeli in the COI tree (100%). In the CAD tree, the three C. swanepoeli samples are found in one weakly supported clade (61% bootstrap support, but intermixed with three other species, and further out, 97% bootstrap and mixed with 6 other samples), while the single C. irene sample is well separated from that clade and on a long branch on its own; this arrangement is consistent with morphological differences between the two species. There is a marginal overlap between C. irene and C. swanepoeli in the upperside wing facies but C. irene differs notably in having a plain hind wing verso. The two species are separated by 180 km based on known records. This taxon remains as C. irene .

Conservation status: LC – Rare.