Kingdom Animalia Order Lepidoptera Phylum Arthropoda Rank Species | Class Insecta Family Hesperiidae Genus Coeliades | |
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Similar Coeliades, Coeliades forestan, Coeliadinae | ||
Coeliades ernesti is a butterfly in the Hesperiidae family. This species originates from Madagascar but had also been introduced to Réunion and Mauritius (1980). The habitat consists of forests, secondary forests and anthropogenic areas.
They have a wingspan of around 56 mm. The body and the base of its wings are of shining blue, wings are black and metallic blue, the ventral face of the wings is brown and white. This species flys very quickly and can hardly be observed in flight.
A known host plant of their larvae is a Malpighiaceae, Hiptage benghalensis.
References
Coeliades ernesti Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA