Spalgis lemolea

Description

Spalgis lemolea, the lemolea harvester or African apefly, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, from Gabon to Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, northern Zimbabwe and Botswana. The habitat consists of forests and dense savannah (Guinea savannah and miombo woodland), as well as thick riverine bush. Adults are attracted to water and fresh as well as dry bird droppings. The larvae are broad and slug like and are hairy and either black or dark grey in colour. They resemble the coccids upon which they feed. These include Dactylopius (including Dactylopius longispinus, Dactylopius virgatus var. madagascariensis), Pseudococcus , Phenacoccus, Planococcoides, Ferrisiana and Planococcus species.