The caterpillar is always attended by ants from the genus

The pupa is brown with dark markings.

The male adults are blue with a dark brown edge around each wing. The hindwings have a pale blue or even white patch across them, and each hindwing has a tail near the tornus.

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

The females are white with a broad black border around each wing, and with a row of blue edged black spots along the hind margin of each hindwing

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

Underneath, both sexes are similar, with white forewings having a wide dark brown edge. The wings underneath are white with wide black margins, and a row of black spots along the hind margin of each hindwing, each spot surrounded by an iridescent green ring. The butterflies have a wing span of about 3 cms.

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

The eggs are white, round, and flattened, with a finely pitted surface. They are laid singly on tendrils and young growth of a foodplant.

The species occurs as various races in

and the north-east coastal areas of Australia, including :

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 786-787.

Pieter Cramer,
Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
Amsterdam Baalde, Volume 1 (1775), p. 120, figs. C, D, and also Plate 76, figs. C, D.

previous caterpillar

Australian butterflies

Australian Lepidoptera

Australian moths

next caterpillar

(updated 13 May 2008, 28 December 2023)