Philiris azula Wind & Clench, 1947
Azula Moonbeam
 LUCIINI,   THECLINAE,   LYCAENIDAE,   PAPILIONOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

The male butterflies on top are an iridescent pale blue with a black tip to each forewing. The females are black with a white patch on each forewing suffused with blue. Underneath, both sexes are white, with a small black spot near the base and some small black spots around the tornus of each hindwing. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

This species is found in

  • New Guinea,

    and in Australia in

  • Queensland on Cape York.

    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 681-682.

    S.J. Johnson & I.R. Johnson,
    First record of Philiris azula Wind and Clench (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from Australia,
    Australian Entomological Magazine,
    Volume 10, Number 6 (1984), pp. 89-90.

    Robert Grant Wind & Harry Kendon Clench,
    New Indo-Australian Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera),
    Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society,
    Volume 42, Part 1 (1947), p. 8.

    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (written 28 November 2001, updated 22 November 2013)