Lepidochrysops victoriae

Lepidochrysops victoriae, the Victoria blue or Lake Victoria giant Cupid, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.

Victoria blue
male and wing undersides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Lepidochrysops
Species:	L. victoriae
Binomial name
Lepidochrysops victoriae (Karsch, 1895)[1]
Synonyms
Lycaena victoriae Karsch, 1895 Cupido victoriae Neochrysops victoriae Catochrysops acholi Bethune-Baker, 1906

Range and habitat

It is found in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, the DR Congo, South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.^[2] The habitat consists of savanna.

Subspecies

• Lepidochrysops victoriae victoriae — western Kenya
• Lepidochrysops victoriae occidentalis Libert & Collins, 2001 — Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, northern Togo, northern Benin, northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, north-western Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda
• Lepidochrysops victoriae vansomereni Stempffer, 1951 — Kenya: central part to the area east of the Rift Valley