Apharitis acamas (Klug 1834)

Uncommon

Flight very rapid, direct and hard to follow, but butterflies reluctant to fly at all

Size: 29-32 mm.The upperside of the wing is orange with some dark brown marks; the underside of the wing with traverse bands with centres of dull metallic scales. Hard to tell apart from Apharitis myrmecophila

Highly localized (Larsen & Pittaway 1982). AOO = 64.5 km2. EOO = 90,000 km2. Possible decline since 1950

Narrow (central Sahara to Afghanistan, Pakistan, North West India)

A highly localized desert species, typically in date plantations (Larsen & Pittaway 1982); associated with Crematogaster ants. Adults sit head-down on trunks of mature palms 80-180 cm from the ground. Emerge with considerable fat reserves, and probably feed only occasionally as adults.

Vulnerable (B2 a, b, i, ii, iv)

Eggs laid in palm-trunk crevices; larvae carried off by Crematogaster ants, with which they spend their entire life. Adults found on Seriphidium herba-alba and Scariola orientalis (Compositae). One generation per year.

28 records. Most recent = 2001 (S Sinai)

Resident.

April-July