| Spotted Opal (one synonym : Candalides wilkinsi Riley, 1928) CANDALIDINI, POLYOMMATINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
male
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group,
Centre for Biodiversity Genomics,
University of Guelph)
The Caterpillars of this species are green with white diagonal lines along the sides. They grow to a length of about 1.5 cms. They have been found feeding on various species of Boronia (RUTACEAE) including :
The caterpillars reside under the leaves on which they feed.
The pupa is formed attached to the underside of a foodplant leaf or in ground debris near the plant. The pupa is green if attached to a leaf, or brown if on the ground. Its length is about 1 cm.
The adult butterflies of this species are basically bluish-white, with black edges to the upper surfaces. The males have black veins in the centre of the upper surface of each forewing. Underneath, the forewings each have a pair of black spots at the margin, and the hindwings underneath each have a marginal arc of black spots. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms. They have unusually short antennae (with lengths of only about 3 mms.)
The eggs are pale green, round, flattened and rough, with a diameter of about 0.6 mm. They are laid singly on leaf stalks or under leaves of a foodplant.
The species occurs in Australia mainly in
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 777-778.
Norman B. Tindale,
On Australian Rhopolocera,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 46 (1922), pp. 537-538, and also
Plate 31, figs. 1, 2.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 28 June 2009, 18 March 2025)