Type locality

Description

Wingspan: male 40-45 mm, female 43-46 mm. The male upperside is iridescent brilliant-blue with a large black apex. There are a few small blue spots also in the black apical area in space 5 and a long androconial spot along vein 1 and the inner margin. The hindwing has a 1-1.5 mm broad black margin. The forewing underside dark brown with a row of whitish post-discal spots on the forwing underside, and a few marginal whitish spots. The base of the costa is also whitish. The hindwing is dominated by the whitish colour with three dark brown spots in the cell, along the outer margin and the costa and brown striation along the veins and in spaces. The upperside of the female is black with three bluish-white or white sub-apical spots and two whitish spots also in the tornal, sub-tornal area. The outer half of the hindwing is covered with lighter iridescent blue interrupted by the black veins, apart from the 2 mm black margin. The female underside is similar to the male's.

Biology & habits

Cerautola crowleyi occurs is various forest types including riverine forest and dense woodland in the forest-savannah transition. The males usually display on hilltops or near ant-trees right after noon, high up in the canopy level with their fast and erratic flight. They are often involved in intraspecific fight with other males, when no competitors are present, they often settle on dry twigs with wings turned downwards. Females possible do not fly much spontainously, apart from egglaying, when they investigate Crematogaster infested tree-trunks. They lay their eggs singly on the bark among ant-workers. The caterpillars develop in loose-obligate myrmecophyly with Crematogaster ants. They feed on algae or lichen grazed from the treebark, often accompanied by Cerautola miranda larvae. The caterpillars pupate on the vegetation around the tree-trunk, the butterflies usually hatch late morning.

Host plants

Synonyms

Specific references

Sáfián, Sz. & Larsen T. B. (2009): On the ecology and behavior of Cerautola crowleyi (Sharpe, 1890), Cerautola ceraunia (Hewitson, 1873) and Cerautola miranda (Staudinger, 1889) with descriptions of early stages (Lepidoptera Lycaenidae, Epitolini). Tropical Lepidoptera Research 19(1):22-28.

External online references