Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 17 April 2002)
male and female upper surfaces
(Photo: courtesy of
Yusuke Takanami & Yasuo Seki)
This Caterpillar is rusty brown, flat, and leathery, with a cream coloured head. It lives within the nest of the green ants :
feeding on ant larvae. The tough skin of the Caterpillar apparently protects it from the ants.
It pupates in the ant nest. The pupa is formed within the last larval skin, which apparently protects it from attack by the ants. Its length is about 3 cms.
The adult butterfly, when it emerges from its pupa, is covered in a grey powder, which apparently makes it difficult for the ants to attack it. The butterflies are somewhat variable in coloration, being either brown with orange patches, or orange with brown patches. The underside is similar to the top only more washed out. The wingspan is about 7 cms.
The eggs are laid singly or in small groups up to to six, on the underside of branches of a tree that has an appropriate ants nest. The eggs are tiny pale green flat cylinders, with a height of about 1 mm.
The species occurs from India to the Philippines, including the tropical coast of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland.
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby, Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 622-623.
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