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Sticker of African babul blue
Bug card No. 0013 of 4,939

African babul blue

Azanus jesous
Eats: PlantsButterfliesGardens and meadows6 legs

The African babul blue is a small butterfly. The male is a bright, pale purple on top, while the female is a milky brown with a bluish glow near her body. It lives in Africa and also in parts of Asia.

Lives in
Africa, Egypt and Syria, and east to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar
Top speed
about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is a small butterfly that does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Not much is written about its food. Like all butterflies, its caterpillars eat plants.
For real!Photo of African babul blue
Picture by Milind bhakare. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Underneath, its wings are pale grey with jet black spots, each ringed with white.

2

Its feelers are dark brown with little white rings.

3

The male is a brighter purple than a very similar cousin, and he lacks the special hair-like scales that cousin has on its front wings.

4

It belongs to the blues, a big family of small butterflies.

you asked

Most asked questions about African babul blue

?Where does the African babul blue live?

In Africa and in parts of Asia, as far as India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

?What colour is the African babul blue?

The male is pale purple on top and the female milky brown. Both are pale grey underneath with black spots.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Azanus jesous
Group
Butterflies
Family
Lycaenidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
Lives on
Africa, Asia
Also known as
Topaz-spotted blue

Where the facts come from

  1. Azanus jesous (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Milind bhakare. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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