Thestor basutus

Thestor basutus, the Basuto skolly or Basuto magpie, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Thestor basutus
Thestor basutus basutus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Thestor
Species:	T. basutus
Binomial name
Thestor basutus (Wallengren, 1857)[1]
Synonyms
Zeritis basuta Wallengren, 1857 Zeretis zaraces Hewitson, 1874

The wingspan is 30–39 mm for males and 35–42 mm for females. Adults are on wing from October to November and from February to April. There is one generation per year.^[2]

Subspecies

• Thestor basutus basutus (East Cape to Lesotho, the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, the Orange Free State, the North West Province and North Cape, Botswana, eastern Zimbabwe)
• Thestor basutus capeneri Dickson, 1972 (Gauteng and, Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga)