About Anthene lunulata (Trimen, 1894)
Anthene lunulata, commonly known as the lunulated hairtail and red-spot ciliate blue, is a species of butterfly belonging to the family Lycaenidae. This butterfly is found in Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan, Angola, Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and north-eastern Botswana, as well as the Uele, Ituri, Equateur, Sankuru, Lualaba and Shaba regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitat includes both savanna and forest ecosystems. Adult butterflies of both sexes are attracted to flowers, particularly flowers of plants in the genus Tridax. Adult males of this species engage in mud-puddling. Recorded flight periods for adult butterflies occur from October to May, as well as in August. The larvae feed on young shoots and the outer cortex of young leaves from multiple plant species: Combretum, Acacia, Albizia and Berlinia species, Brachystegia boehmii, Brachystegia spiciformis, Entada abyssinica, Isoberlinea angolensis, Julbernardia globiflora, and Parkia filicoides. The larvae are associated with ants from the genus Pheidole, along with the species Camponotus acvapimensis and Technomyrmes detorquens.
