Jump to content

Lycaena tama

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lycaena tama
A photo of a Lycaena tama butterfly on some small rocks
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Lycaena
Species:
L. tama
Binomial name
Lycaena tama
Fereday 1878

Lycaena tama, the Canterbury alpine boulder copper, is a species of copper which lives on the central South Island of New Zealand.[1]

Description

[edit]

A small butterfly with copper wings and a "marginal series of violet dots".[2] It was named tama as a distinct species by R. W. Fereday after "a traditionary Maori chief of that name."[2]

Range

[edit]

Lycaena tama lives in the Mackenzie Basin and in the areas around Canterbury. It was first described as being in and around "Drayton Station, on the plains near Mount Hutt; spurs of mountains near Castle Hill Station; and the top of the Mount Hutt range"[2]

Ecology

[edit]

Lycaena tama uses the host plant pōhuehue.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Canterbury Alpine Boulder Copper (Lycaena tama)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  2. ^ a b c Feredey, R. W. (1877). "Supplementary Description of Species or Varieties of Chrysophani (Lepidoptera rhopalocera) inhabiting New Zealand". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 10. Wellington, New Zealand: 252–259. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  3. ^ Henderson, Geoff; Patrick, Brian (2020). "New Zealand's pōhuehue (Muehlenbeckia) – a biodiversity powerhouse with an image problem". Canterbury Botanical Society. 51: 47–57.