Arhopala madytus

These Caterpillars are green with a brown pattern on their back. They can make clicking sounds by rubbing sugments 5 and 6 together. They live by day in a silk shelter between joined leaves of a food plant. Nocturnally they feed on:

• Cottonwood ( Hibiscus tiliaceus , MALVACEAE ),
• False Almond ( Terminalia catappa, COMBRETACEAE ),
• Brown Damson ( Terminalia melanocarpa, COMBRETACEAE ), and
• Australian Damson ( Terminalia sericocarpa, COMBRETACEAE ).

They are attended by the green ants :

The pupa is green with a length of about 2 cms. It is formed in the joined leaf shelter.

The male adult butterflies are a brilliant metallic bluish-purple, with a narrow black border around each wing.

The females are similar but have a much wider black border. The hind wings of both sexes each have a little tail. The butterflies have a wing span of about 4 cms.

Underneath, the butterflies are brown, with arcs of dark spots outlined in pale brown. There is a blue stripe along the rear margin by the tail of each hind wing.

The species is found over New Guinea and adjacent islands, and also the north-east coast of Queensland.