The Common Fig-tree Blue (Myrina silenus) is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Lycaenidae

Lycaenidae

The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...

 family. It is found in sub-Sahara

Sahara

The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...

n Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, southern Arabia and northern Oman

Oman

Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 26.5-34 mm for males and 33-41 mm for females. Adults are on year round with peaks from September to October and from April to June in the eastern part of the range.

The larvae feed on Ficus

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

species, including Ficus capensis, Ficus stipulate, Ficus cordata, Ficus sur, Ficus pumila

Ficus pumila

Ficus pumila is a woody evergreen vine that is native to East Asia.This plant requires the fig wasp Blastophaga pumilae for pollination, and is fed upon by larvae of the butterfly Marpesia petreus....

and Ficus ingens.

Subspecies

• Myrina silenus silenus (Sudan, Uganda, Zaire, Angola, Sierra Leone, Guinea)
• Myrina silenus nzoiae d'Abrera, 1980 (western Kenya to Ethiopia, Eritrea)
• Myrina silenus ficedula (Trimen, 1879) (eastern Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa (but not the West Cape))
• Myrina silenus deserticola Stempffer, 1969 (South West Africa (Okahandja))
• Myrina silenus penningtoni Dickson & Stephen, 1971 (Namaqualand, South West Africa)
• Myrina silenus suzannae Larsen & Plowes, 1991