Paradeudorix eleala

Paradeudorix eleala, the western fairy playboy, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[2] The habitat consists of primary forests.

Paradeudorix eleala
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Paradeudorix
Species:	P. eleala
Binomial name
Paradeudorix eleala (Hewitson, 1865)[1]
Synonyms
Hypolycaena eleala Hewitson, 1865 Hypokopelates obscura Bethune-Baker, 1914 Deudorix (Hypokopelates) viridis Stempffer, 1964 Hypokopelates eleala parallela Collins & Larsen, 2000 Hypokopelates eleala cufadana Mendes & De Sousa, 2003

The larvae feed on Albizia zygia and Theobroma cacao. They are attended by the ant species Crematogaster buchneri.

Subspecies

• Paradeudorix eleala eleala (eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mongala, Equateur, Kinshasa and Lualaba)
• Paradeudorix eleala cufadana (Mendes & De Sousa, 2003) (Guinea-Bissau)
• Paradeudorix eleala parallela (Collins & Larsen, 2000) (Guinea Bissau, Guinea)
• Paradeudorix eleala viridis (Stempffer, 1964) (coast of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, western Nigeria)

Feeding off flower of weed plant Tridax procumbens in Lagos, Nigeria

With exposed wings, Lagos

At rest, Lagos