| Blue Argus , Blue Pansy (previously known as Precis orithya) NYMPHALINAE, NYMPHALIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Frank Jordan, Queensland)
|
| Blue Argus , Blue Pansy (previously known as Precis orithya) NYMPHALINAE, NYMPHALIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Frank Jordan, Queensland)
The Caterpillars of this species are black with yellow dots, an orange metathorax, and an orange nose. They are are covered in branched hairs. They have been found feeding on various plants from three families including :
When not feeding, the caterpillar rests hidden at the base of the foodplant.
The pupa is spiky, and is dark brown with pale markings. It hangs by a silk cremaster on or near the foodplant.
The adult butterflies have black forewings with white marks, and blue hind wings.
Underneath, they have a brown pattern. Each wing has two eyespots on both the upper and lower surfaces. The wingspan is about 4 cms.
Various races of this species are found from Africa to the Philippines, including :
as well as albicincta Butler, 1875, in Australia in
 Hong Kong, 1979 | 
|
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 573-574.
Frank Jordan,
Blue Argus (Junonia orithya albicincta)(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae),
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 81 (June 2016), pp. 1, 4-6.
Carl Linnaeus,
Insecta Lepidoptera,
Systema Naturae,
Volume 1, Edition 10 (1760), Class 5, Part 3, p. 473, No. 94.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 227.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 23 March 2011, 11 August 2024)