''Acrodipsas myrmecophila'', the small ant-blue, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

. It is found in the south-east of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is about 25 mm. The larvae feed on the larvae of the ant species ''

Papyrius nitidus ''Papyrius nitidus'' is a species of ant in the genus '' Papyrius''. Endemic to Australia and New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Loc ...

''. The butterfly features on the logo of the

Geelong Field Naturalists Club The Geelong Field Naturalists Club (GFNC) is an Australian regional amateur scientific natural history and conservation society which was founded in 1961 by Trevor Pescott. It is based in Geelong, Victoria, with the aims of: * preserving and ...

External links

Australian Caterpillars
Acrodipsas Butterflies of Australia Butterflies described in 1913 {{Theclinae-stub