Indigo flash
The indigo flash is a small butterfly from the family of blues. The male's wings shine dark blue on top, and in some light they look a bit green. Each back wing ends in a tiny black tail with a white tip.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
The female looks different from the male. She is pale brown with a purple shine.
Underneath, both have rusty-brown wings with darker bands.
Its feelers are black with white rings, and the club at the end has a red tip.
Near each tail it has a small black lobe with an orange spot.
It lives on many islands, from Taiwan and Borneo to New Guinea, and in Australia from Cape York down to Brisbane.
Most asked questions about Indigo flash
?Where does the indigo flash live?
In southern and eastern Asia, on many islands, in New Guinea and in north-eastern Australia.
?How can you tell a male from a female?
The male is shiny dark blue on top. The female is pale brown with a purple shine.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Rapala varuna
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- Asia, Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Rapala varuna (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 Milind Bhakare. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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