Common butterfly in all over the island in
all the year round. It is a migratory species and it varies greatly in size,
dwarf forms being very common. This butterfly lays its eggs at the base of the
flowers of certain plants of family Fabaceae and when the larva hatches it
burrows into the flower and so into the pod, on the seeds of which it feeds
until it reaches its next stage of the life cycle. It is considered as a pest
due to larva feeding on some cash crops such as peas and beans. Crotalaria albida, Crotalaria beddomeana, Cajanus trinervius (ඇත් තෝර), Crotalaria incana, Crotalaria laburnifolia (යක්බේරිය/Rattle-box/Bird flower), Crotalaria micans (Caracas rattle box), Crotalaria pallida (Smooth rattle box), Crotalaria verrucosa (නිල් අඬණහිරිය/යක්බේරිය/Blue rattlesnake), Crotalaria trichotoma (West Indian rattlebox/Zanzibar rattlepod/Cusara pea), Mundulea sericea, Ulex europaeus (Gorse/Furze/Whin), Cajanus cajan (රට තෝර/Dhal/Pigeon Pea/Chick Pea/Red Gram), Vigna radiata (මුං/මුං ඇට/බූ මෑ/Green gram/Jerusalem pea/Mung bean), Vigna unguiculata (මෑ කරල්/ ලී මෑ/වඳුරු මෑ/Black-eye Bean/Cowpea), Vigna mungo (බූ මෑ/මුං/උළුඳු/Black gram) and Pisum sativum are identified as its larval host plants in Sri Lanka.
