Blue-spot pansy
Junonia oenone
The blue-spot pansy is an African butterfly with black wings and white markings. On each back wing it has a big, shiny metallic blue spot. When it closes its wings, the brown undersides show instead.
Lives in
Africa, Madagascar and small islands like Aldabra
Wingspan
4 to 5.2 cm (1.6 to 2 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Adults visit flowers. The caterpillars eat plants from the acanthus family, such as Asystasia and Justicia.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 1.5 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds
How big is Blue-spot pansy compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Blue-spot pansy about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The female's blue spot is smaller and more of a dull purple.
2
The undersides of its back wings are almost plain brown.
3
One kind of it lives on Madagascar and tiny islands like Aldabra and Cosmoledo.
you asked
Most asked questions about Blue-spot pansy
?How can you recognise a blue-spot pansy?
Look for black wings with white markings and a big shiny blue spot on each back wing.
?Where does the blue-spot pansy live?
In Africa, Madagascar and some small islands nearby.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Junonia oenone
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- Africa
- Also known as
- Blue pansy, Dark blue pansy
Where the facts come from
- Junonia oenone (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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