Thursday, August 11, 2011

Double-spotted Line Blue Butterfly - Nacaduba biocellata

The Double-spotted Blue Line (Nacaduba biocellata) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Australia (including New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia), Singapore, New Hebrides, Bali and Sumba.

The wingspan is about 20 mm. Adult females have a brown back, while the males are blue with narrow black borders. The underside of both sexes is light brown with light and dark wavy lines. This species is Indo-Australian origin, and was recently discovered in Singapore (see this article for Christ blog for details). Observations of the small, but usually restless adults are usually in the vicinity of its local hosts, visiting the nearby flowers blooming shrubs or herbs. Both sexes were also observed, sometimes in large numbers, flying around or on top of inflorescences and leaves of flowering hosts. During the flight they can be easily confused with other equally great blues line. A definitive identification can only be done when the butterfly comes to rest and let her trademark two hind wing subtornal places to observe.
The larvae feed on the shoots, flowers and buds of various Acacia species including Acacia aneura, Acacia betchei, brachybotrya Acacia, Acacia deanei, erinaceae Acacia, Acacia irrorata, Acacia Karoo, Acacia ligulata, Acacia osswaldii, penninervis Acacia, Acacia olds , Acacia salicina, Acacia sclerophylla, Acacia victoriae and Acacia sowdenii. They can have a wide range of colors, depending on their host plant, including pink, orange, yellow or green. The color seems to depend on the nature of the controls and how they feed. They are attended by ants, mostly Iridomyrmex species, including Iridomyrmex Iridomyrmex purpureus and viridiaeneus.
Pupation takes place in a light brown hen, which is formed in rubble on the floor below the food plant. These caterpillars can be almost any color: pink, orange, yellow or green, and have different markings. The color seems to depend on the nature of the shoots, buds and flowers on which they feed. They have a brown head, and covered with fine hair.
In his homeland, Australia's, Two-Spotted Blue Line (TSLB) known to be using a wide range of Wattles and larvae eat plants. In Singapore, an invasive and naturalized Wattle, Acacia auriculiformis (Black Wattle), is so far the only recorded host plant. The following account of the life history of this recent addition to our checklist is based on the observations of 20 plus copies in various stages of development, taken from a local host plant in two visits within one week. Another local plant Acacia, A. mangium, is listed as a host for the TSLB in Australian literature. Hence our bred worms had no problem costs the flower buds for the introduction. TSLB caterpillars feed on both the flower buds and blooming flowers of the host plant.
The female adult brown on top. The males are blue on top, with narrow black edges. Underneath, they are both light and dark brown with wavy lines. Both sexes have two black spots above and below of each hind wing tornus. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 2 cm. The eggs are white and tangerine formed. They are individually placed, mostly on flower buds of a food plant.
Two eggs are laid separately Spotted Blue Line near a flower bud on an inflorescence of the host plant. Each egg is disc-like (about 0.4 mm in diameter) with a depressed micropylar. The surface is covered with a grid pattern of intersecting ridges and pits of various sizes. When freshly laid, the egg is light green. The color changes to white as the egg matures.
Each egg takes 2 to 2.5 days to hatch. The young caterpillar develops after nibbling away sufficiently large part of the eggshell. Measured at a length of about 0.7 mm to 0.8 mm, the light yellow body is cylindrical in shape, wider in the front, and sports two rows of long dorsal setae, and sub-spiracular setae moderately long. The head capsule is dark brown or black.
Butterfly Biodata:Genus: Nacaduba Moore, 1881Type: biocellata C. & R. Felder, 1865Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 17 mmCaterpillar Local Host Plants: Acacia auriculiformis (Leguminosae, common name: Earleaf Acacia, Black Wattle), Acacia mangium (Leguminosae, common name: Silver Wattle).

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