which are parasites on:

The caterpillars typically feed nocturnally, and hide in crevices by day. The caterpillars are usually attended by the small black ants :

(Photo: courtesy of Martin Lagerwey, Ungarie, New South Wales)

The pupa is mottled dark brown with a length of about 1.5 cms. Pupation usually occurs in a crevice or under bark on the foodplant host.

male
(Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences)

The adults are metallic purple on top, the females having a broader black margin to the wings.

female
(Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences)

Both sexes are blotchy fawn underneath. The forewings each have a series of black and white stripes under the leading edge. The butterflies have a wingspan of 3 to 4 cms. They are rather sluggish flyers.

egg, magnified
(Photo: courtesy of Ken Walker, Millmerran, Qeensland)

The eggs are brown, round, and flattened, with a network of pale raised ribs. The eggs have a diameter of about 0.8 mm. They are laid singly on leaves or flowerbuds of a foodplant.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis)

The species occurs over the inland of south-eastern Australia as two races :

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2.

Kelvyn L. Dunn,
Field Notes: Major extensions to the known distribution of the Bright Purple Azure, Ogyris barnardi (Miskin 1890) in Queensland (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae),
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 68 (March 2013), pp. 26-32.

William Henry Miskin,
A Revision of the Australian Genus Ogyris, with Description of a new Species,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Series 2, Volume 5, Part 1 (1890), pp. 27-28.

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(updated 11 July 2004, 20 September 2013, 5 August 2020)