Lamnamkok NP, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Order : Lepidoptera
Family : Lycaenidae
Sub-Family : Polyommatinae
Genus : Leptotes
Species : Leptotes plinius
This species is widespread across south and south east Asia including India, Bangladesh, Myanmar. Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and southern China. It is a small butterfly with a wingspan of 19- 26mm and is sexually dimorphic with the upperside of the male being puplish-blue while the female is brown with off-white markings. The undersides of both sexes are similar to each another. They are frequently seen, like this one, puddling on the banks of mountain streams.
Preferred habitat seems to be open woodland where the larvae feed on plants of the family Plumbaginaceae, such as Plumbago zeylanica and Plumbago auriculata. Eggs are laid singly on the flower buds of the host and this is the part that the hatched larvae feed on. When it is time to pupate they do so within a curled-up leaf.
All my insect pics are single, handheld shots of live insects in wild situations.
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