Asian Zebra Blue

 Leptotes plinius plinius (Fabricius, 1793)

wet form

Malayalam Name 

:

സീബ്രാ  നീലി

Order

:

Lepidoptera

Family 

:

Lycaenidae

Sub-family   

:

Polyommatinae

Order

:

Lepidoptera



DISTRIBUTION

               Northern and western Africa; Arabia; Persia; Baluchistan; north-western Himalayas; the Punjab; western, central and southern India; Ceylon; Assam; Upper Burma

STATUS:   Common

HABITAT 

HABITS

The wing is not flapped very far below the horizontal.This butterfly has a stiff flap glide style of flying. It flies at low heights and maintains a territory.

IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES

Wing Span:  22–30 mm. 

Male upperside pale purple to violet with in certain lights a blue suffusion, the markings of the underside apparent through transparency.

 

SIMILAR SPECIES 

Closely resembles, in both sexes, on the upperside of Tarucus theophrastus (Pointed Pierrot), but the character and disposition of the markings on the underside are completely different.

LARVAL HOST PLANTS

Abrus precatorius, Albizia lebbeck, Dalbergia lanceolaria, Indigofera spp., Mimosa spp., Sesbania bispinosa (Fabaceae); Dyerophytum indicum, Plumbago spp., Plumbago auriculata, Plumbago zeylanica (Plumbaginaceae).

LIFE CYCLE


MORE IMAGES

male 

female

wet form







Courtesy 
Write up:Wikipaedia
Images: TNHS

കേരള വനം വന്യജീവി വകുപ്പ്  
മാങ്കുളം ഡിവിഷൻ


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