Cacyreus tespis

Cacyreus tespis, the water bronze or water blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from South Africa to Ethiopia.

Water bronze
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Cacyreus
Species:	C. tespis
Binomial name
Cacyreus tespis (Herbst, 1804)[1]
Synonyms
Papilio tespis Herbst, 1804 Papilio palemon Stoll, 1782 Cupido palemon var. fracta Grünberg, 1911 Cacyreus palemon f. ecaudata Stempffer, 1950 Cacyreus palemon ghimirra Talbot, 1935

The wingspan is 15–25 mm for males and 17–25 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round in warmer areas, but usually from August to May. At higher altitudes adults are on wing in December and January.^[2]

The larvae feed on the buds and green seeds of Geranium and Pelargonium species.

Subspecies

• Cacyreus tespis tespis – Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kivu and Maniema, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces
• Cacyreus tespis ghimirra Talbot, 1935 – highlands of Ethiopia