Iolaus trimeni. Male. Left – upperside; right – underside. Wingspan: 35mm. Laurenceville, Vumba, S.R. 20:10:61. D.M. Cookson. (Transvaal Museum - TM3787).
Type locality: South Africa: “Schoman’s Farm prope flumen Vaal”.
Distribution: Angola (south-east), Democratic Republic of Congo (south - Lualaba, Shaba), Uganda (Ukerewe Island in Lake Victoria), Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia (widespread), Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana (east), South Africa (Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, North West Province, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal), Swaziland.
Specific localities:
Zambia – Lusaka; Chalimbana; Chisamba; Ndola; Mufulira; Mbala; Mafinga Mountains (Heath, et al., 2002).
Botswana – Lobatse (Pennington).
Limpopo Province – Warmbaths (Swanepoel, 1953); Potgietersrus (Swanepoel, 1953); Polokwane (Swanepoel, 1953); Munnik (Swanepoel, 1953); Mokeetsi (Swanepoel, 1953); Sibasa (Swanepoel, 1953); Vivo (Swanepoel, 1953).
North West Province – Brits (Swanepoel, 1953); Kgaswane Mountain Reserve (Williams).
Gauteng – Pretoria (Swanepoel, 1953); Krugersdorp (Swanepoel, 1953); Hammanskraal (Swanepoel, 1953); Witwatersrand Botanical Gardens (J. Dobson, unpublished checklist, 2001).
KwaZulu-Natal – Hluhluwe (Pringle, et al., 1994).
Swaziland – Mlawula N. R. (www.sntc.org.sz).
Common name: Trimen’s sapphire.
Habitat: Woodland (Heath, et al., 2002), including Miombo woodland (Collins et al., 2003).
Habits: Males are avid hilltoppers, defending territories from perches on twigs or leaves of shrubs and trees (Pringle, et al., 1994).
Flight period: All year in warmer areas and September to April in cooler regions.
Early stages:
Henning, S., 1983: 69 [as Iolaus (Argiolaus) trimeni; Florida, Gauteng].
"This species was bred from specimens collected at Florida in the Transvaal. The eggs were laid singly on the leaves of the parasitic plant Loranthus rubromarginata (Loranthaceae). The larva at first fed on the surface of a leaf, creating a trough which was filled with its body, but as it grew larger it fed by wrapping the fleshy first segment round the edge of the leaf and completely covering its head. The final instar larva was black and greyish-white and mimicked a bird dropping. Both honey-gland and tubercles were present in the second and subsequent instars. The larvae did not appear to be ant-associated in any way. The pupa is secured to a twig or to the bark of the host-tree by the cremastral hooks only."
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