Common Butterflies of Sri Lanka

T
LC
Forget-Me-Not Catochrysops strabo
Pea Blue Lampides boeticus
S
LC
Lycaenidae
Male
The upper side of the male is entirely coloured in forget-me-not blue. It has a black
tornal spot. The basal parts of the female are a dull greyish blue. Its borders are dark
brown. Its tornal spot is capped in orange and has a sub-marginal row of ill-defined
cresecent-shaped markings on the hind wing. Though the underside is similar in both
sexes, the back ground colour and the prominence of markings vary. Both wings
have a distal band consisting of two rows of segmented white lines and a dark line
in between. Similar patches are also present at the cell ends. The hook mark is always
present on the distal band of the hind wing. The black spot near the upper margin
of the forewing is roughly situated half way between the distal band and the cell
end band. Sometimes this spot is absent. Two similar but more prominent spots are
present near the upper margin of the hind wing. The tornal spot is heavily capped
in orange and black scales are present at the anal angle with some orange and blue.
It feeds on herbaceous flowers. Occasionally, the males engage in mud sipping.
Sometimes dwarf individuals are present. The male is purplish blue on the upper
side. The veins of the forewing are marked in a lighter colour. The outer margins
are narrowly bordered in dark brown. It has two black tornal spots, but sometimes
only one is prominent. Varying amounts of blue is confined to the basal parts of the
otherwise brown coloured females. Its tornal spots are ringed in white and diffused
white markings continue along the outer margin. The distal band of white patches on
the hind wing is diffused. The light brown underside has paired bands of thin white
streaks. It is dark brown in between this pair of bands, with a broad white band in the
centre. Its white distal band is pronounced on the hind wing. The black tornal spots
have some light blue scales and one spot is distinctly capped in orange.
It flies at scrub height and never goes higher. They bask in the morning but also
do so around mid-day when the weather is chilly in hilly areas in particular. This is a
migratory species.
Male
Lycaenidae
This butterfly is common in herbaceous areas in the dry zone.
LFPs: Flowers of Tephrosia purpurea (.ï ms,$ ms,) and Tephrosia villosa (nQ ms,).
It has breeding populations all over the country. It is fairly common in tea plantations,
since its LFPs are grown as hedges.
LFPs: Crotalaria zanzibarica, Ulex europaeus, Crotalaria pallida (wvkysßhd).
112 Common Butterflies of Sri Lanka
Common Butterflies of Sri Lanka 113