| Mountane Heath-blue (previously known as Lycaena hobartensis) POLYOMMATINI, POLYOMMATINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Ngaruru, Middlesex, Tasmania)
|
| Mountane Heath-blue (previously known as Lycaena hobartensis) POLYOMMATINI, POLYOMMATINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Ngaruru, Middlesex, Tasmania)
This Caterpillar is green with a faint brown dorsal stripe, and yellow lateral stripes. It is covered in short sparse hairs. It has been found feeding on the flowers and flowerbuds of:
all of ERICACEAE. The caterpillar grows to a length of about 1 cm.
The pupa is green with a dark dorsal line and black spots, and is often attached to a twig. Its length is about 0.6 cm.
The adults are brown on top with chequered margins. Underneath, they are pale brown.
The underside of each hindwing has a white and dark brown scalloped pattern. The butterflies have a wingspan up to 2 cms.
The eggs are pale green discs, covered in complex dimples. The eggs have a diameter of about 0.4 mm. They are laid singly in the leaf axils of young shoots of a foodplant.
The species lives in the mountains of south-east Australia as two recognised races:
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 820-821.
William Henry Miskin,
Descriptions of hitherto undescribed Australian Lepidoptera (Rhopalocera), principally Lycaenidae,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Series 2, Volume 5, Part 1 (1890), pp. 38-39.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 21 February 2011, 28 December 2023)