Indian Cupid Butterfly

Description:

Wingspan: 22-28 mm. Status: Not rare. Distr. India, Shri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar.

Habitat:

Prefers well wooded hilly habitats, but seen on plans too. Seen in the Himalaya up to 1,980 m. Flies over grassy patches or bushes in sunshine. Visits flowers, males seen over damp patches. On the wing from March to October.

Notes:

HW tailed sexes differ. UN almost white, with some black spots, others grey, and hardly darker than the background. Outer discal spot in 6 in line with spots in in spaces 5 and 7 on UNH. Two prominent bright orange-crowned black spots in spaces 2 and 3 on UNH tornus. Male dark blue on UP, with broad border on UPF, and two black tornal spots, more conspicuous than rest of border on UPH. Female entirely brown or black with or without pale blue discal areas, except for the black-spotted orange tornal patch on UPH. In subspecies found in Northeast India, female UP uniformly black, mail darker blue with prominent veins and broader borders. LF: Desmodium spp., Trifolium spp. (Fabaceae) Found in Dahanu (Gambhirgad), Maharshtra, India.