Candalides xanthospilos

Candalides xanthospilos (Hübner, [1817])
Yellow-spotted Blue
(one synonym : Erina pulchella Swainson, [1833])
CANDALIDINI, POLYOMMATINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA

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

Candalides xanthospilos
male
(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, Glenbrook, New South Wales)

This Caterpillar is green with white hairs, dark green diagonal stripes, and yellow lateral lines. It has a pale brown head. It hides by day, and feeds by night, on plants in THYMELAEACEAE, including :

Queen of the Bush ( Pimelea latifolia ),

Tall Rice Flower ( Pimelea ligustrina ), and

Slender Rice Flower ( Pimelea linifolia ).

The pupa is brown with side flanges at both ends. Its length is about 1 cm. It is formed in the leaf debris at the base of the foodplant. It clicks if disturbed.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, Glenbrook, New South Wales)

The adults are brown on top, with the males having a purple sheen. Both sexes have a large yellow patch in the centre of each fore wing.

showing underside
(Photo: courtesy of Todd Burrows, Blackbutt, Queensland)

Underneath, they are white with a row of black dots along the wing margins, and usually two dots under the centre of each fore wing, and three dots under each hind wing. The butterflies have a wing span of about 2.5 cms. This is a pretty little butterfly, and they appear to flash as they fly along just above the ground.

The eggs are pale geen, round, flattened, and rough. They are laid singly on flower buds or young shoots of a foodplant.

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

The species occurs over the eastern coastal areas of Australia, including:

Queensland,

New South Wales, and

Victoria.