Rather common butterfly but seldom seen since it inhabits mainly the canopy. Widely distributed in arid, dry and intermediate zones of the country where its principal larval food plant Limonia acidissima (Woodapple/දිවුල්) grows. Its main flight season is from June to September. Larva feeds on the soft pulp of the Woodapple fruit after eating its way into the fruit through its hard shell. It also prevents the fruit fall by spinning a web around its stalk and top of the fruit. In Sri Lanka, Common Guava Blue larva also feeds on කුකුරුමාන් (Catunaregam spinosa) and දෙළුම්/Pomergranate (Punica granatum) fruits.Sunday, October 6, 2019
Common Guava Blue/Woodapple Blue (Virachola isocrates)
Rather common butterfly but seldom seen since it inhabits mainly the canopy. Widely distributed in arid, dry and intermediate zones of the country where its principal larval food plant Limonia acidissima (Woodapple/දිවුල්) grows. Its main flight season is from June to September. Larva feeds on the soft pulp of the Woodapple fruit after eating its way into the fruit through its hard shell. It also prevents the fruit fall by spinning a web around its stalk and top of the fruit. In Sri Lanka, Common Guava Blue larva also feeds on කුකුරුමාන් (Catunaregam spinosa) and දෙළුම්/Pomergranate (Punica granatum) fruits.
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Does not the larva find its way similarly into the unripe gauva fruit? Hence its name?
ReplyDeleteYes in India its larva also feeds on the fruits of the Common Guava (Psidium guajava) hence its common name as you correctly guessed, but in Sri Lanka there are no records so far. But there are records from Sri Lanka that it feeds on fruits of the False Guava (Catunaregam spinosa)
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