Ogyris idmo

Ogyris idmo Hewitson, 1862
Large Bronze Azure
ARHOPALINI, THECLINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA

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

female
(Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences)

This Caterpillar is off-white, flattened, and corrugated. It has a dark head, and is sparsely covered in stiff hairs. It lives in the nests of various species of Sugar Ants (FORMICINAE), including :

Camponotus nigriceps, and

Camponotus terebrans.

feeding on Mistletoe (LORANTHACEAE), or if a bushfire destroys its foodplant, then being fed by the ants, or even feeding on immature ants, in the nest it inhabits.

The pupa is pale brown with a length of about 2.5 cms. It is formed in the host ants nest.

male
(Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences)

The male and female adults have different upper surfaces. The male is plain dark brown with a purple iridescence. The female is bright iridescent blue with broad black margins, and with a white spot near the tip of each forewing.

underside
(Picture: from "Illustrations of diurnal Lepidoptera, Lycćnidć", Volume II, John van Voorst, London)

Underneath, they are both pale brown, with dark brown splotches, and with a set of black and white bars at the base of each forewing. Both sexes have black and white chequered margins to the wings. The butterflies have a wing-span of about 5 cms.

The eggs are white and round with a diameter of about 1 mm. They are laid singly near the entrance of a suitable ants nest.

The species lives in

Victoria,

South Australia, and

south of Western Australia.

A number of races have been proposed, including :

orontas Hewitson, 1862,

waterhouseri Bethune-Baker, 1905,

halmaturia Tepper, 1890, in Victoria and South Australia, and

idmo in Western Australia,

although it has been suggested that the observed variations are more due to environmental factors than to inherited racial characteristics.