Common Butterflies of Sri Lanka

T
LC
Common Shot Silverline Spindasis ictis
Peacock Royal Tajuria cippus
S
LC
Lycaenidae
Male
wet season form
It has two hairy tails on the hind wing. The male is dark chocolate brown with a large
shot-blue patch on its hind wing, extending up to vein 2 or very rarely up to vein 3
on the forewing in its dry season form. The brightness of this patch varies according
to the viewing angle. The orange patch on the forewing varies. The shot-blue hue
is absent in females and traces of plumbeous scales are visible on both wings. The
underside varies remarkably. While the outer margin of the forewing never has a red
band, it sometimes has a sub-marginal band of the black spots. In wet season form,
the background colour is pale yellow and its dull reddish bands are well-defined. In
the dry season, the background colour and band colour take on shades of sandy
brown, almost leaving no difference between the two. Intermediate colour forms are
also common. The light-coloured abdomen is ringed in a mixture of black and rusty
brown or only in rusty brown.
its habits are almost similar to those of the Common Silverline.
This dry zone scrublands species is abundant in the southern and northern arid zones.
This is the only species of Royal with black eyes. The male has a shot-blue upper
surface with a broad black apical band on the forewing. This black band extends along
the outer and upper margin. The exterior margin of the blue patch on the forewing
is irregular. The upper side of the female takes on a lighter shade of blue with a slight
increase in brightness towards the forewing base. The exterior margin of its blue
patch is regular. The blue on its hind wing does not reach the outer margin, leaving
a black patch in between. It has a distal row of short, almost parallel, black lines. The
underside looks similar in both sexes and is pure white with two black spots capped
in orange near the tails. The light blue iridescence between these spots varies. Its
distal band of black streaks is more prominent on the hind wing than on the forewing.
The Peacock Royal readily comes to herbaceous flowers in open vegetation, but
restricts itself to small trees in wooded areas. It usually selects high positions to bask.
This butterfly can be found in any habitat where its larval food plants are available,
except in dense forest areas. It is low in numbers in the hill country.
Male
Lycaenidae
LFPs: Acacia eburnea (l=l=,a lgq), Senna auriculata (rKjrd) and Senna surattensis. It
has a great affinity with ants.
LFPs: Various Loranthaceae plants including Dendrophthoe ligulata, Taxilus cuneatus
and Dendrophthoe falcata.
100 Common Butterflies of Sri Lanka
Common Butterflies of Sri Lanka 101