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White-blotched Ketsi Blue
The White Spotted Ketsi Blue butterfly, Lepidochrysops ketsi leucomacula (Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae) is a rare subspecies of the commoner Ketsi Blue L.ketsi ketsi. Confined to a few localities around Margate and Port Edward on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast, and the Wild Coast, its larvae feed on the plant that the female in the above image is settled on - a Selago species.
Like others of its genus its larvae feed on the green seeds of the foodplant until part-grown, upon which it rolls itself up like a pill and starts to emit a chemical that mimics the brood pheromone of a Camponotus ant. It spends the rest of its larval life feeding on ant brood before pupating in the nest.
Many so-called 'blues' like this one are not in fact blue on their wings, but a grey-brown colour.
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