Northern Purple Azure (erroneously : Ogyris zozine) ARHOPALINI, THECLINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)
This Caterpillar is greyish pink with a complex pattern of dark markings. It has a pair of yellowish flaps each side by the tail. It feeds on various species of Mistletoe (LORANTHACEAE), such as:
The Caterpillars are normally attended by various species of :
The pupa is mottled brown with a length of about 2 cms.
The upper surfaces of the wings of adult males are a dull metallic blue or puprle, with narrow dark brown edges.
The females are black with large areas of metallic blue, or purple, and have a white patch near each forewing tip.
Underneath, the forewings are black with metallic blue bars.
The female additionally has the white patch underneath. The hind wings underneath have a complex pattern of light and dark grey. The wingspan averages 4.5 cms.
The eggs of this species are mandarin shaped and dirty white, laid on or near the stems of its food plant
The butterfly occurs in
and in northern Australia in
Three races have been proposed : zolivia Waterhouse, 1941, typhon Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914, and zosine, but their distinctions are controversial.
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 708-710.
William Chapman Hewitson,
Ogyris,
Illustrations of new species of exotic butterflies,
London, Volume 1 (1853), p. 63, Nos. 3, 4, and also
Plate 32, figs. 3, 4.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 3 July 2008, 25 January 2024)