Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 2 March 2008)
These Caterpillars are green with some red and white lines along the body, and a black head and tail. The Caterpillars grow to a length of about 2 cms. They feed by day ont the leaves and flowers of :
The Caterpillars are always attended by ants of the species :
The upper surfaces of the adult butterflies are dark brown with a large iridescent blue patch near the centre of each wing. The hind wings each have a tail with a black spot beside it on the upper surfaces.
Underneath, the butterflies are pale brown with arcs of darker spots edged in white, and there are two orange edged black spots underneath beside each hind wing tail. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.
This species has only been found near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, and is considered to be endangered species.
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby, Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 716-717.
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