Purple sapphire (Heliophorus epicles)

Purple sapphire (Heliophorus epicles) is a species of animal in the Lycaenidae, a small-medium butterfly with black wings and dark skin, black and white body and antennae, living in thickets at an elevation of 500-1500 meters.

H. epicles has black forewings on the upper side with dark yellow plots in the midsection and white margins. The hind wings are black with a dark yellow band and white margins.

The back is black or dark gray. The chest, abdomen and legs are black and white. A pair of antennae are black and white which alternately form rings with black tips.

Purple sapphire lives by roadsides, vast grassy forests and thickets of wastelands. Eggs are laid on lower plants. Larvae tend to be plump and rest on the underside of the leaves.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Lycaeninae
Tribe: Heliophorini
Genus: Heliophorus
Species: Heliophorus epicles

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