Bronze Line Blue (Ionolyce helicon)
Appearance: Male upperside pale blue; female upperside brown with extended blue suffusion. Underside of both sexes grey-brown with a characteristic pattern of faint, white lines and black subtornal spot on the hind wing. Long, fine tail on the hind wing.
Wingspan: 2.0 cm
Season: Mainly from winter until early summer.
Range: Patchy distribution along the central and northern coast of QLD all the way up to Cape York.
Habitat: Tropical rainforest and monsoon forest.
Photo: Male, Daintree NP, QLD, 30 / 12 / 2005.
Notes
Not much is known about this species which can be found in coastal rainforest and monsoon forest across eastern and north-eastern QLD. Males can be easily identified by their characteristic, triangular wing shape, whereas females look very similar to other species of Blue, in particular species of the genus Nacaduba and Prosotas, including the Large Purple Line Blue (Nacaduba berenice), the Long-tailed Line Blue (Prosotas nora), and the Short-tailed Line Blue (Prosotas felderi).