Tarucus bowkeri, or Bowker's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, from the Northern Cape, south to fynbos in the West Cape and east to the Amathole Mountains in the Eastern Cape.
| Tarucus bowkeri | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Tarucus |
| Species: | T. bowkeri
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| Binomial name | |
| Tarucus bowkeri | |
| Synonyms | |
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The wingspan is 23–27 mm for males and 26–29 mm for females. Adults are on wing from October to March, but is most common in early summer and sometimes also on wing in winter. There are multiple generations per year.[2]
The larvae feed on Phylica paniculata.
Subspecies
edit- Tarucus bowkeri bowkeri (from Eastern Cape along escarpment to KwaZulu-Natal and along the Drakensberg foothills)
- Tarucus bowkeri transvaalensis Quickelberge, 1972 (from Mpumalanga and the Limpopo province along the Drakensberg escarpment)
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tarucus bowkeri.
Wikispecies has information related to Tarucus bowkeri.
- ^ Tarucus at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- ^ Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.