Tomares mauretanicus, the Moroccan hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.

Description The wingspan is 28–30 mm.

Habitat Grassy places from sea level to 2400 m

Distribution It is found only in northern Africa.

Life cycle and behaviour The butterfly flies from January to March. In the High Atlas it flies into June.

The larvae feed on Hippocrepis multisiliquosa, Hippocrepis minor, Hedysarum pallidum, Astragalus epiglottis and Astragalus pentaglottis. The eggs are laid in clusters on the leaves of the host plant. The species flies on hot, dry hillsides and it has been known to 'hilltop'.

Subspecies Tomares mauretanicus mauretanicus (Algeria) Tomares mauretanicus antonius (Brévignon, 1984) (Middle Atlas in Morocco) Tomares mauretanicus amelnorum (Tarrier, 1997) (Anti-Atlas in Morocco)parc naturel d'Ifrane

References

Further reading

Higgins, L. G. and N. D. Riley (1971). Europas dagsommerfugle. Gads Forlag. Tennent, John (1996). The Butterflies of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Gem Publishing Company. Tolman, Tom (1997). Europas sommerfugle. Gads Forlag.