General Description

Upperside of the wings is brownish-black with a central yellow to coppery reddish area. The hind wings have a line of blue spots on the margin. These are sometimes absent in the male. The underside is pale brown with dark brown spots, bands and other markings. The underneath of the fore wing sometimes has a yellowish patch, larger and brighter in the female, near the bottom margin. Wingspan 2.4 cm.

Biology

Pale green eggs are laid singly or in small groups on the underside of the leaves of the larval food plant, Bursaria spinosa (Prickly Box) and occasionally Pittosporum multiflorum (Orange Thorn). Larvae are attended by small black ants (Anonychomyrma nitidiceps group). Larvae in their later stages feed only nocturnally, and by day retreat to the ant nest near the base of the food plant. Pupation usually occurs in the ant nest. Females avoid plants without ant colonies; ants move in once larvae are established. Adults fly in a rapid erratic fashion, settling frequently to bask in sunshine and feeding on flowers of a range of species and often Prickly Box. The butterflies raise their wings up and down while resting, probably as defence behaviour to draw predators away from the body. Adults fly from October to February in Tasmania, September to February in Victoria and August to April in NSW.

Distribution

South-eastern Australia

Habitat

Open forest, grassy woodland, where Bursaria spinosa is common; edges of rainforest where Pittosporum multiflorum grows.

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