General Description
Above: purplish brown (males) or brown-black with purplish central and basal areas of the wings (females). Below: brown-grey with two brown-black spots to the edge of the forewing. Wingspan up to 3 cm.
Biology
The male butterflies fly to hilltops and ridges where they establish a territory to increase their chances of mating with females. Caterpillars feed at night on one type of plant, the Dodder-laurel. The caterpillars occasionally have an attendant ant, but can also thrive without it. Several generations are completed each year.
Distribution
Western and eastern mainland Australia.
Habitat
Most habitats where Dodder-laurel vines grow, including open eucalypt forest, coastal heathland and mallee.
More Information
-
Animal Type
-
Animal SubType
-
Brief Id
Small butterfly with a purple sheen on its wings.
-
Colours
Brown, Black, Blue, Purple
-
Maximum Size
3 cm
-
Habitats
Wetland, Urban, DryForest, WetForest, Woodland, Mallee, Grassland
-
Diet
Nectar
-
Endemicity
-
Commercial
No
-
Conservation Statuses
CITES: Not listed, FFG Threatened List: Not listed, DSE Advisory List: Not listed, IUCN Red List: Not listed
-
Plants
Dodder-laurel vines
-
Flight Start
August
-
Flight End
April
-
Taxon Name
-
Scientific Author
(Semper, 1879)
-
Common Name
Varied Dusky Blue
-
Kingdom
-
Phylum
-
Subphylum
-
Class
-
Order
-
Family
-
Genus
-
Species Name
hyacinthinus
