Psychonotis caelius (Small Green-banded Blue)

Synonyms

Danis hymetus

Other Common Names

White-banded Blue

Notes

I’d read that Sydney was just about the southern limit of this species’ range, but that it could be found in the Royal Botanic Gardens. I’d looked for it several times, without ever seeing it, until in early April 2005 I saw a female laying eggs on a small Red Ash tree. I was able to get a few photos, not as good shots as I would have liked because I stupidly had the camera on the wrong settings.

The next time I found this butterfly was in Cairns in April 2006, when I saw several of them. They were not abundant, but I bumped into them a number of times.

In January 2008 I found a large colony of them at Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River. There were dozens of them flying around Red Ash trees next to a car park, and several of them came down lower to pose for photos.

Sightings

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney – April 2005, May 2022
Cairns – April 2006
Brooklyn – January 2008, April 2010, April 2022
Chapmans Hill, Wyong – April 2008

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