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| Amaryllis Azure | Dark Ciliate Blue |
Moth Butterfly |
About Lycaenidae
The Blues, Coppers and Hairstreaks
About a third of Australia’s butterflies belong to this family. They are generally small, active butterflies with a metallic sheen to their wings. Unfortunately they usually perch with their wings held closed which makes it difficult to photograph them. A number of species have filamentous tails on the hindwings, usually combined with dark spots on the underside. When you see one at rest, the dark spots look a bit like eyes and the filamentous tails resemble antennae. It is possible that this deceives predators into striking at the false "head", enabling the butterfly to make a rapid escape relatively unscathed!
Many species have a symbiotic relationship with ants. The caterpillars often have a specialised gland that secretes a sweet substance that ants covet. The ants will guard the caterpillars from predators and in return, feed off the sugary secretions. This is carried to an extreme in the moth butterfly, Liphyra brassolis . The caterpillar of this butterfly lives within the nests of the green weaver ant and feeds on the ant larvae. The ants are powerless to stop this unusual predatory caterpillar.
