 The male of the Acacia Blue is a deep shining purplish blue above, with
a black apical border on the forewing and a broad black border on the hindwings.
The female is steely blue with narrow diffuse black borders on both wings.
The underside is hair brown with small and obscure spots and an irregular
dark post-discal line on both wings. It has two tails, the one at vein
2 being the longer. The butterfly is moderately rare in Singapore, occurring only in the vicinity of where its caterpillar host plant, Albizzia falcata , is found. The caterpillar is well camouflaged, usually hiding along the young shoots of the host plant where it is attended by the ant Anoplolepis longipes. This symbiotic existence is typical of many of the Lycaenidae, where the ants obtain "honey-dew" secretions from the caterpillar, in return
for protection from predators.
Acacia Blue (Male and Female)
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The male of the Acacia Blue is a deep shining purplish blue above, with
a black apical border on the forewing and a broad black border on the hindwings.
The female is steely blue with narrow diffuse black borders on both wings.
The underside is hair brown with small and obscure spots and an irregular
dark post-discal line on both wings. It has two tails, the one at vein
2 being the longer. The butterfly is moderately rare in Singapore, occurring only in the vicinity of where its caterpillar host plant, Albizzia falcata , is found. The caterpillar is well camouflaged, usually hiding along the young shoots of the host plant where it is attended by the ant Anoplolepis longipes. This symbiotic existence is typical of many of the Lycaenidae, where the ants obtain "honey-dew" secretions from the caterpillar, in return
for protection from predators.
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