Aslauga vininga (Hewitson 1875)

Aslauga vininga Hewitson
Liphyra vininga Hewitson, 1875: 183; 1878 [1862-1878]: 35; pi. 5b, fig. 3. Aslauga vininga: Lamborn et al., 1914: 446, 449. Aurivillius, 1920 [1908-1925]: 342 (the female figured, pi. 64b, as vininga is actually the female of lamborni). Schultze, 1923: 1192. Bethune-Baker, 1925: 216; figs, (synonyms: marginata Plotz, marginalis Kirby, subfulvida Holland, leonae Aurivillius).
= Deloneura marginata Plotz, 1880: 204.
= Aslauga marginalis Kirby, 1890: 261.
= Epitola subfulvida Holland, 1890a: 423.
= Aslauga leonae Aurivillius, 1920 [1908-1925]: 343; pi. 64c (in part). Jackson, 1962: 156 (= subfulvida Holland).
Though the most abundant species of the genus, and probably the most widely distributed (from Sierra Leone through Nigeria to Gabon), vininga is actually far from common and appears to be quite local as well. According to Fox's observations it is crepuscular in habit, a fact which may explain, at least in part, its apparent rarity.
Bethune-Baker (in Lamborn et al., 1914: 499) has remarked on the different appearance of Nigerian females as compared with females from Sierra Leone, the former being darker orange above than are the latter. Our Liberian females are noticeably darker orange above than our females from Gabon — about the reverse, geographically, of the situation described by Bethune-Baker. This author, however, was comparing fresh Nigerian material with older, possibly much older, Sierra Leone specimens, and our Liberian material is some fifty years fresher than the specimens from Gabon. It seems likely that the color difference is the result of age rather than of geography.
Liberia: Harbel, n,l9,I,2«, VII, 2 5,1 5 , VIII, 1 9 , IX, 2 S , X, 1 $ , XI, 1 9 , XII; Wanau Forest, 2 S , X; Ganta, 1 $ , IX (all Fox).

Aslauga vininga, the central aslauga, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea (Bioko), Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.

Adults have been recorded on wing in March.

The larvae are carnivorous and have been found feeding on Dactylopius longispinus and Lecanium punctuliferum var. lamborni and are associated with the ant species Crematogater buchneri race laurenti.