Deudorix antalus (Hopffer 1855)

Deudorix (Virachola) antalus Hopffer
Dipsas antalus Hopffer, 1855: 641. Deudorix antalus: Karsch, 1893: 219. Aurivillius, 1921 [1908-1925]: 375; pi. 66e; 1923 [1908-1925]: 1220. Farquharson et ah, 1922: 377. Hawker-Smith, 1929: 230. Jackson, 1937: = Lycaena anta Trimen, 1862b: 402. Deudorix anta: Hewitson, 1862 [1862-1878]: 25; pi. 5, figs. 49-51.
The species occurs abundantly over almost the whole of Africa south of the Sahara, including Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. It is, however, strangely absent from all recent regional lists (Stemp
ffer, 1950, Liberia; 1952c, Nimba; 1952a, Togo and Dahomey; 1954c, Nimba; Stempffer and Bennett, 1956, Liberia). Its flight seems to be limited to the period between February and June.
Liberia: no further data, 2 <5 , 2 9 (Naysmith) ; Cape Palmas, 3 $ , 1 2 (Good); Robert's Field, 1 8 , VI (Thomas); Harbel, 2 8 , II, 7 8 , III, 5 8 , IV, 2 $ , V, 1 8 , VI (Fox).

Deudorix antalus, the brown playboy, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Africa (including Madagascar) and south-west Arabia.

The wingspan is 22–34 mm for males and 22–40 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round with peaks from September to October and from March to May.

The larvae feed on the fruit of a wide range of plants, including Haplocoelum galiense, Schotia species (including S. afra and Schotia speciosa), Faidherbia albida, Syzygium species (including S. guineense), Ximenia species (including X. caffra, X. poppae), Acacia species (including A. stenocarpa), Prunus species (including Prunus persica ispahanensis), Cassia, Phaseolus lunatus, Sutherlandia, Crotalaria, Dolichos, Nymania capensis, Combretum, Quisqualis, Albizia, Baphia, Bauhinia, Burkea, Caesalpinia, Cajanus, Canavalia, Phaseolus, Pisum, Vigna, Macadamia, Olea, Paphia, Cardiospermum and Capsicum species.