Wattle blue

Appearance

The wingspan is about 20 mm. Adults have a pale blue upperside with chequered margins, but females also have a broad black band around the margins. They also have an arc of white scalloped markings on the hindwings. The underside of the wings is fawn with several white markings.

The larvae are dark green or brown with a dark dorsal band and pale diagonal streaks.

Naming

*''Theclinesthes miskini miskini''
⤷ ''Theclinesthes miskini arnoldi''
⤷ ''Theclinesthes miskini eucalypti'' Sibatani & Grund, 1978

Habitat

The larvae generally feed on plants in the Fabaceae family including ''Paraserianthes lophantha'', ''Sesbania cannabina'', ''Acacia anceps'', ''A. auriculiformis'', ''A. flavescens'', ''A. pycnantha'', ''A. salicina'', ''A. saligna'', ''A. tetragonophylla'', ''A. harpophylla'', ''A. holosericea'', ''A. neriifolia'' and ''A. victoriae'', but also on ''Alectryon diversifolius'', ''Atalaya variifolia'', ''Hakea vittata'' and ''Eucalyptus polycarpa''. Young seedlings are preferred to older foliage.

Larvae are occasionally attended by various black or green ants in the genera ''Iridomyrmex'', ''Ochetellus'', ''Calomyrmex'', ''Camponotus'', ''Notoncus'', ''Paratrechina'' or ''Polyrhachis''.