The Variable Blue is a 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 South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, from the Cape Peninsula, inland along the western mountains to southern Namaqualand, along the eastern Drakensberg to the East Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Orange Free State, Lesotho, Mpumalanga, the southern Limpopo Province, then west to the central Limpopo Province, the North West Province and the hills of Gauteng. It is also found in eastern Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

.

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 28-35 mm for males and 34-37 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to February (with peaks in October and January). There are two generations per year, but only one at high altitudes with adults on wing from December to January.

The larvae feed on Selago

Selago

Selago is a genus of plant in family Scrophulariaceae. It contains the following species :* Selago lepida, Hilliard* Selago nachtigalii, Rolfe...

 species (including Selago corymbosa), Becium and Salvia

Salvia

Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with approximately 700-900 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. It is one of several genera commonly referred to as sage. When used without modifiers, sage generally refers to Salvia officinalis ; however, it is...

 species. Third and later instar larvae feed on the brood of Camponotus niveosetus ants.