Oriental Ciliate Blue

Oriental Ciliate Blue

Anthene emolus

Esta, blipname ChocolateLover joined me on safari today. This is the second time Esta has visited, but the pickings were a bit slimmer than last time. The wet season has really affected the available blip material. Always nice to have company though and share knowledge. Hope you found something good to blip Esta!

I decided to change my blip today, as I found a much more interesting butterfly that I forgot I had. This tiny blue hairstreak butterfly just would not settle and when it finally did, it was on my foot! You take what you can get though, never reject what the blip monster throws at you.

I did some research and what a fascinating find! When the caterpillars hatch from the eggs, they are picked up by weaver ants, Oecophylla smaragdina, a strange tree ant with a green abdomen that sticks up in the air. The ants take the grubs back to the nest and feed them. Apparently the tiny caterpillars cannot survive without this process.

After the first moult, the ants pick them up and place them on young growth of the grubs food plant, some distance away from the nest. After the next moult in a few days, the caterpillars now have honey producing glands on their backs which the ants collect and thus is the purpose that completes the relationship.

The chrysalis has to be formed some distance from the ants nest, as the relationship contract has now been terminated at this time and any butterfly emerging too close to the nest is torn apart and returned to the nest as food.

I am going to have to look for these ants now!

Update - Check out Esta's folio of the blip safari - stunning. The first image shows my butterfly with my index finger next to it, showing just how small this creature actually was!

Well done Esta.

Here is a Flickr slidershow of the rest of my shots.

Dave