Southern Downs Butterflies & Moths >
Candalides xanthospilos, is commonly known as the Yellow-spot Blue or the Yellow-Spotted Blue Butterfly. Other common names include Dotted Blue and the Buff-spotted Blue. It is a species found along the eastern coast region of Australia, from Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria.
The adult butterfly is brown on the upper-side of the wings. The wingspan is about 25 mm across. The underside of the wings is white (to grey) with a row of black dots along the wing margins. There are two dots under the centre of each forewing and three dots under each hindwing.
Both male and female have a large yellowish patch in the centre of each forewing (the yellow patch can be light yellow or a stronger yellow). In addition, the male of the species have a faint iridescent blue suffusion on the upperside of the wings. This can be more evident (depending on the right light conditions).
The adult butterflies are often seen near Pimelea species of flora (which the larvae feed on). The caterpillars are green with white haris, dark green diagonal stripes, yellow lateral lines and a pale brown head. Pupation usually occurs in the leaf debris at the base of the host plant.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Unranked: Ditrysia
- Superfamily: Papilionoidea
- Family: Lycaenidae
- Subfamily: Polyommatinae
- Tribe: Candalidina
- Genus: Candalides
- Species: Candalides xanthospilos
Footnote & References
- Flickr, Photographs © Marc Newman
- Candalides xanthospilos (Hübner, 1817), Yellow-Spotted Blue Butterfly, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/14ec2509-2f36-4673-9849-cecc92c396f9
- Candalides xanthospilos (Yellow-spotted-blue), Australian Butterflies, © Martin Purvis, https://www.purvision.com/candalides-xanthospilos/
Southern Downs Butterflies & MothsAloa marginata (Donovan’s Tiger Moth) Amata trigonophora (Tiger Moth) Australothis rubrescens Candalides xanthospilos (Yellow-spot Blue) Cephonodes kingii (Day Flying Hawk Moth) Genduara punctigera (Crexa Moth) Opodiphthera loranthi (Emperor Moth) Papilio aegeus aegeus (Orchard Butterfly) Tirumala hamata (Blue Tiger)
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