Axiocerses amanga

Axiocerses amanga, the bush scarlet, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Bush scarlet
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Axiocerses
Species:	A. amanga
Binomial name
Axiocerses amanga (Westwood, 1881)[2]
Synonyms
Zeritis amanga Westwood, 1881 Axiocerses baumi Weymer, 1901 Chrysorychia mendeche Grose-Smith, 1889 Axiocerses mendeche var. borealis Aurivillius, 1905

The wingspan is 24–28 mm for males and 25–30 mm for females. Adults are on the wing year-round in South Africa.

The larvae feed on Acacia species, Ximenia americana and X. afra. They are associated with the ant species Camponotus niveosetosus.

Subspecies

• Axiocerses amanga amanga

Range: South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, south-eastern DRC, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini and South Africa, where it is present in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces

• Axiocerses amanga borealis Aurivillius, 1905

Range: Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Niger, northern Cameroon

• Axiocerses amanga baumi Weymer, 1901

Range: Angola, Namibia