Dark Ciliate-blue (previously known as Plebeius seltuttus) LYCAENESTHINI, POLYOMMATINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
early larval instars
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)
The early instars of this Caterpillar are plain green. The mature caterpillars are green with a brown line along the back, and with yellow lines along the sides.
The caterpillars have been found feeding on a variety of plants, including :
The caterpillars are inclined to shelter under foodplant leaves, and are always attended by :
The pupa is smooth with a flattened abdomen, and is variously green or brown or a mottled combination of both, with a white dorsal line on the thorax. Its length is about 1 cm. The pupation occurs gregariously on stems or leaves of the foodplant.
On top, the male adults are purple.
The females are brown with a purple sheen, and have some pale-edged dark spots around the hindwing margin.
Underneath, both sexes are fawn with arcs of light and dark dashes. The hindwings have a black spot by the tornus. The butterflies have a wing span of about 2.5 cms.
The eggs are round, white with a dark spot, and flattened. They are laid in groups of up to 50 on young shoots of a foodplant.
The species occurs as several subspecies in
and as subspecies affinis (Waterhouse & Turner, 1905) in Australia in :
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 751-752.
Johannes Röber,
Neue Tagschmetterlinge der Indo-Australischen Fauna,
Correspondenz-blatt des Entomologischen Vereins "Iris" zu Dresden,
Volume 1, Part 3 (1886), p. 67, and also
Plate 5, fig. 24.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 25 December 2009, 23 December 2023)