''Ogyris abrota'', the dark purple azure, 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 ...
in 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
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 ...
, from southern
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
to south-eastern Australia.
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 40 mm. The upper surface of the wings of the males is purple with black margins. Females are brown with a large cream patch on the forewings.
The larvae feed on ''
Amyema congener
''Amyema congener'', commonly known as the variable mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae from eastern Australia. It is found on members of the genera ''Allocasuarina'', ''Acacia' ...
'', ''
Dendrophthoe vitellina
''Dendrophthoe vitellina'', commonly known as long-flowered- or apostle mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant of the mistletoe family Loranthaceae. The genus ''Dendrophthoe'' comprises about 31 species spread across tropical Africa, Asia, and Aust ...
'', ''
Muellerina celastroides'' and ''
Muellerina eucalyptoides
''Muellerina eucalyptoides'', commonly known as creeping mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic aerial shrub in the family Loranthaceae. The species is endemic to Australia.
Taxonomy
'' Muellerina'' is a member of Santalales, the mistletoe order, pla ...
''. The larvae are pinkish brown with dark markings. They are attended by ants from the ''
Crematogaster
''Crematogaster'' is an ecologically diverse genus of ants found worldwide, which are characterised by a distinctive heart-shaped gaster (abdomen), which gives them one of their common names, the Saint Valentine ant. Members of this genus are a ...
'', ''
Rhytidoponera
''Rhytidoponera'' is a large genus of ants in the subfamily Ectatomminae. The genus is known from Australia and Melanesia, with New Caledonia as the most eastern limit.
Some ''Rhytidoponera'' species have both winged alate queens and gamergate ...
'' and ''
Technomyrmex
''Technomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Dolichoderinae. With 98 species, it is one of the largest and most diverse ant genera in the Dolichoderinae. The genus distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical zones with most specie ...
'' genera, as well as ''
Linepithema humile
The Argentine ant (''Linepithema humile''), formerly ''Iridomyrmex humilis'', is an ant native to northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil. It is an invasive species that has been established in many Mediterranean climat ...
''.
Australian Insects
/ref>
References
Butterflies described in 1851
Arhopalini
{{Theclinae-stub