(Photo: courtesy of Ken Walker, Perth, Western Australia)

The caterpillars grow to a length of about 1.5 cms. The pupa is brown and rough, with a length of about 1 cm. The skin of the final instar is left attached at the anal end. The pupa is formed either on the foodplant or in the ground debris nearby, and is secured by a girdle.

male, subspecies heathi
(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, taken at Ingleburn, New South Wales)

The adults are pale brown on top, with a purple sheen, and pale veins. The female has a brighter sheen than the male. Underneath, they are white with a row of black dots along the wing margins. The butterflies have a wing span of about 3 cms.

female, subspecies heathi
(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, taken at Ingleburn, New South Wales)

The butterfly is more often encountered in the open fields than the dense forest. It prefers to fly close to the ground.

egg, magnified
(Photo: courtesy of Ken Walker, Sydney, New South Wales)

The eggs are pale green, flattened spheres, covered in a white polygonal net. The eggs have a diameter of about 0.8 mm. They are laid singly usually in the axil of a leaf.

The species is thought to occur as several races including:

The population of Candalides heathi from western Victoria, previously referred to as the ‘Wimmera form’ was recognised in 2004 as a separate species : Candalides noelkeri.

showing underside
(Photo: courtesy of Eileen Collins, Chiltern, Victoria)

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 772-774.

H. Ramsay Cox,
Entomological notes from South Australia,
The Entomologist, conducted by Edward Newman,
Volume 6 (1873), p. 402, No. 1.

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(updated 10 september 2009, 7 April 2025)