Stugeta bowkeri

Bowker's sapphire
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Stugeta
Species:	S. bowkeri
Binomial name
Stugeta bowkeri (Trimen, 1864)
Synonyms
Iolaus bowkeri Trimen, 1864 Stugeta maria Suffert, 1904 Iolaus (Stugeta) bowkeri albeza Koçak, 1996 Stugeta bowkeri f. caerulea Stempffer, 1947 Stugeta bowkeri f. mombasae Butler, 1901 Stugeta bowkeri var. nyanzana Wichgraf, 1911

Stugeta bowkeri, the Bowker's sapphire, Bowker's marbled sapphire or Bowker's tailed blue, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in most of southern Africa.

The wingspan is 26–32 mm for males and 29–41 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to May, with peaks in October and March.

Larvae of subspecies bowkeri and henningi feed on Viscum rotundifolium. Larvae of subspecies tearei have been recorded on Ximenia caffra and X. americana, Viscum rotundifolium and Tapinanthus quinquangulus. Other recorded food plants include Loranthus species (including L. elegans and L. oleaefolius) and other Tapinanthus and Ximenia species.

The name honours the lepidopterist James Henry Bowker.

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