Appias celestina (Boisduval, 1832)
PIERINAE ,   PIERIDAE

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

Appias celestina
male
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The upper surfaces of the wings of the male butterflies are blueish grey.

Appias celestina
male, underside
(Specimen: courtesy of Margaret Humphrey, Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The under surfaces of the males are yellowish grey.

Appias celestina
female
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The females have white wings with black edges. The black apical area of the fore wings contains white spots.

Appias celestina
female, underside
(Specimen: courtesy of Margaret Humphrey, Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The undersides of the females are similar to the upper surfaces, with the addition of some yellow shading. The wingspan of both males and females is about 6 cms.

The species occurs mainly in Indonesia and New Guinea. A few specimens have been taken around the top of Cape York in Queensland, Australia, but they have all been rather ragged, and are presumably specimens blown in on the winds.


Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, p. 327.


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(updated 14 November 2001)