Candalides xanthospilos

Candalides xanthospila (Hubner, [1817])
(one synonym: Rusticus hubnerii)
Yellow Spot Blue
CANDALIDINI , POLYOMMATINAE , LYCAENIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

(updated 12 May 2008)

Candalides xanthospilos
female
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

This Caterpillar is green with white hairs, dark green diagonal stripes, and yellow lateral lines. It has a pale brown head. It hides by day, and feeds by night, on:

Queen of the Bush ( Pimelea latifolia ),

Tall Rice Flower ( Pimelea ligustrina ), and

Slender Rice Flower ( Pimelea linifolia ),

all of THYMELAEACEAE.

The pupa is brown with side flanges at both ends. Its length is about 1 cm. It is formed in the leaf debris at the base of the foodplant. It clicks if disturbed.

The adults are brown on top, with the males having a purple sheen. Both sexes have a large yellow patch in the centre of each fore wing. Underneath, they are white with a row of black dots along the wing margins, and usually two dots under the centre of each fore wing, and three dots under each hind wing. The butterflies have a wing span of about 2.5 cms.

The eggs are pale geen, round, flattened, and rough. They are laid singly on flower buds or young shoots of a foodplant.

underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

This is a pretty little butterfly, and they appear to flash as they fly along just above the ground. The species occurs over the eastern coastal areas of Australia, including:

New South Wales,

Queensland>, and

Victoria.