Forget-me-not or Catochrysops strabo is a common species of butterfly from the Lycaenidae family, also known as Blues family. The name of the butterfly itself is very interesting, right? Here is a photo of it I’ve taken.
Forget-me-not butterfly photo – Exif Data: f/8, ISO 160, 1/400 sec, -0.3 step, 105 mm, Nikon D7100, Nikkor 105 mm f2.8 G, Date: January 18, 2016
The above photo was taken from Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in Idukki district of Kerala. At the time, the butterfly seemed to be a little busy, since the sunlight was getting stronger. It was flying around this grass plant, and occasionally sitting on it. But while sitting also it was constantly moving. I tried many shots in burst mode, and the above photo is one among them. Light was also getting a bit harsh.
More about Forget-me-not – Catochrysops strabo
As I had mentioned, this is a common butterfly and size wise it is relatively small. Wing span is in the range of 25 mm to 35 mm. That means, it is comparable to that of the Plains Cupid ( Chilades Pandava), but slightly smaller than the Common Cerulean (Jamides celeno), both from the Lycaenidae family.
It is usually seen in open and dry areas with grass and bushes.
As evident from the above photo, the under side is primarily off-white colored. The under fore wing has mainly three bands. First on the sub-marginal area, second near the post-discal area and a small third one between veins 4 and 6 on the discal area. There is a faint spot near the costa which is at almost equidistant from the longer band and shorter band.
The under hind wing has two black spots near the costa and are white bordered. There is also one prominent and one small black spots near the tornus with orange border. Hind wings are tailed.
This butterfly can be confused with Silver forget-me-not (Catochrysops panormus). But the costal spot on the under fore wing is very closer to the longer band in Catochrysops panormus.
Different species of plants from the Fabaceae family are known to be its larval hosts.
