Chrysoritis Explained

Chrysoritis, commonly called opals or coppers, is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae found mainly in southern Africa and particularly South Africa.^[1]

Species

Species of the genus include:^[2]

The chrysaor species group:

• Chrysoritis aethon (Trimen, 1887) – Lydenburg opal
• Chrysoritis aureus (van Son, 1966) – Heidelberg copper or golden opal
• Chrysoritis lycegenes (Trimen, 1874) – Mooi River opal
• Chrysoritis lyncurium (Trimen, 1868) – Tsomo River opal or Tsomo River copper
• Chrysoritis midas (Pennington, 1962) – Midas opal
• Chrysoritis natalensis (van Son, 1966) – Natal opal
• Chrysoritis phosphor (Trimen, 1866) – scarce scarlet or golden flash

The chrysantas species group:

• Chrysoritis chrysantas (Trimen, 1868) – Karoo daisy copper

The oreas species group:

• Chrysoritis dicksoni (Gabriel, 1947) – Dickson's copper or Dickson's strandveld copper
• Chrysoritis oreas (Trimen, 1891) – Drakensberg copper or Drakensberg daisy copper

The pyroeis species group:

• Chrysoritis felthami (Trimen, 1904) – Feltham's opal
• Chrysoritis pyroeis (Trimen, 1864) – sand-dune opal

The thysbe species group:

• Chrysoritis adonis (Pennington, 1962) – Adonis opal
• Chrysoritis aridus (Pennington, 1953) – Namaqua opal
• Chrysoritis azurius (Swanepoel, 1975) – azure opal
• Chrysoritis beaufortius (Dickson, 1966) – Beaufort's opal
• Chrysoritis beulah (Quickelberge, 1966) – Beulah's opal
• Chrysoritis blencathrae (Heath & Ball, 1992) – Waaihoek opal
• Chrysoritis braueri (Pennington, 1967) – Brauer's opal
• Chrysoritis brooksi Riley, 1938 – Brook's opal
• Chrysoritis chrysaor (Trimen, 1864) – golden copper or burnished opal
• Chrysoritis daphne (Dickson, 1975) – Daphne's opal
• Chrysoritis endymion (Pennington, 1962) – Endymion opal
• Chrysoritis irene (Pennington, 1968) – Irene's opal
• Chrysoritis nigricans (Aurivillius, 1924) – dark opal
• Chrysoritis orientalis (Swanepoel, 1976) – eastern opal
• Chrysoritis palmus (Stoll, [1781]) – water opal
• Chrysoritis pan (Pennington, 1962) – Pan opal
• Chrysoritis pelion (Pennington, 1953) – Machacha opal
• Chrysoritis penningtoni (Riley, 1938) – Pennington's opal
• Chrysoritis perseus (Henning, 1977) – Perseus opal
• Chrysoritis plutus (Pennington, 1967) – Plutus opal
• Chrysoritis pyramus (Pennington, 1953) – Pyramus opal
• Chrysoritis rileyi (Dickson, 1966) – Riley's opal
• Chrysoritis swanepoeli (Dickson, 1965) – Swanepoel's opal
• Chrysoritis thysbe (Linnaeus, 1764) – opal copper or common opal
• Chrysoritis trimeni (Riley, 1938) – Trimen's opal
• Chrysoritis turneri (Riley, 1938) – Turner's opal
• Chrysoritis uranus (Pennington, 1962) – Uranus opal
• Chrysoritis violescens (Dickson, 1971) – violet opal

The zeuxo species group:

• Chrysoritis coetzeri Dickson & Wykeham, 1994 (may be included in C. zonarius)^[1]
• Chrysoritis cotrelli – Cotrell's daisy copper (may be included in C. zeuxo)^[1]
• Chrysoritis zeuxo (Linnaeus, 1764) – jitterbug daisy copper
• Chrysoritis zonarius (Riley, 1938) – donkey daisy copper

Poecilmitis

Formerly separated in genus Poecilmitis:

• Poecilmitis adonis now C. adonis
• Poecilmitis aureus now C. aureus
• Poecilmitis azurius now C. azurius
• Poecilmitis balli now C. pyramus balli
• Poecilmitis daphne now C. daphne
• Poecilmitis endymion now C. endymion
• Poecilmitis henningi now C. pan henningi
• Poecilmitis hyperion now C. swanepoeli hyperion
• Poecilmitis irene now C. irene
• Poecilmitis kaplani now C. beaufortius stepheni
• Poecilmitis lyncurium now C. lyncurium
• Poecilmitis lyndseyae now C. thysbe bamptoni
• Poecilmitis orientalis now C. orientalis
• Poecilmitis pan now C. pan
• Poecilmitis penningtoni now C. penningtoni
• Poecilmitis pyramus now C. pyramus
• Poecilmitis rileyi now C. rileyi
• Poecilmitis stepheni now C. beaufortius stepheni
• Poecilmitis swanepoeli now C. swanepoeli
• Poecilmitis trimeni now C. trimeni
• Poecilmitis wykehami now C. turneri wykehami

Notes and References

1. Book: Woodhall, Steve . Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa . 2005 . Cape Town, South Africa . Struik . 978-1-86872-724-7 .
2. http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/theclinae/chrysoritis/index.html Chrysoritis