The Rayed Blue is a species of butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Lycaenidae

Lycaenidae

The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...

 family. It is found in southern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, including South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is about 30 mm. Adults are pale brown with a purple sheen. The underside is white with a row of black dots along the wing margins.

The larvae have been recorded feeding on Pimelea

Pimelea

Pimelea is a genus of plants belonging to the family Thymelaeaceae. There are about 80 species in the genus, native to Australia and New Zealand. Many of the species are poisonous to cattle.Selected species...

species, Eremophila longifolia

Eremophila longifolia

Eremophila longifolia , also known as Berrigan , is a shrub or tree which is native to Australia.-Description:It grows to between one and six metres in height and has yellow, orange, red or pink flowers between early autumn and early summer . These are followed by rounded fleshy fruits which are 5...

, Plantago

Plantago

Plantago is a genus of about 200 species of small, inconspicuous plants commonly called plantains. They share this name with the very dissimilar plantain, a kind of banana. Most are herbaceous plants, though a few are subshrubs growing to 60 cm tall. The leaves are sessile, but have a narrow...

species and Derwentia derwentiana. They are green with dense white hairs and six reddish nobs on their back. The larvae are attended by black ants. Pupation takes place in a brown pupa with a length of about 10 mm which is formed on the hostplant or in debris on the ground.

Subspecies

• Candalides heathi heathi (coastal central Queensland to Western Australia)
• Candalides heathi aerata (Montague, 1914) (Western Australia (Monte Bello Island, Geraldton)
• Candalides heathi alpina Waterhouse, 1928 (Mount Kosciusko, Brindabella Range)
• Candalides heathi doddi Burns, [1948] (New South Wales (Barrington Tops, Dorrigo))