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Female African Babul Blue oviposting on
Acacia indica
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Male African Babul Blue on bird
droppings
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Female African Babul Blue
|
Description
A small blue butterfly with a wingspan of 18-24 mm. The shiny blue scales on the upper sides of the
male is quite transparent
and allow the darker areas of the underside to show through.
This transparency gives it a striped appearance of alternating light and
dark bands when viewed from above.
The upper sides of the female is mostly brown with a dusting
of pale blue scales towards the base of the wings. The under sides of both sexes have
a number of black spots and darker coloured bands.
Similar species
Bright Babul Blue - A much smaller species with 2 distinct submarginal
spots on the hind wing.
Status, distribution and habitat
A common butterfly of the low country below 1000 feet. It is abundant in
the driest parts of the island amongst acacia scrub.
Habits
A very active butterfly that flies quickly in
a zigzag path. After a while, it settles down quite abruptly,
usually at the very edge of twigs and thorns. Around its larval host plants, the males often fly rapidly in
circles for quite a while before settling down. The males come readily to bird droppings and wet soil.
Early stages
There are no records of its early stages in Sri Lanka. I have seen it
oviposit on the emerging leaves of Acacia indica on many
occasions.
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Danaidae
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| Amathusiidae
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| Riodinidae
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| Papilionidae
| Hesperidae
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