Diet

• Caterpillars feed on a variety of woody plants.

• Larvae feed on young shoots and foliage and may shelter among leaves.

• Adults visit flowers for nectar and may also feed on fermenting fruit and plant juices.

Range

• Pseudolycaena damo ranges from Mexico through Central America to Panama, with separate populations in western Ecuador and northwestern South America.

• It occurs in both eastern and western Mexico, and Guerrero falls within its broad Mexican range.

• It occurs in the Zihua area.

Habitat

• It occurs in tropical dry forest, humid lowland forest, scrub, woodland edges and secondary vegetation.

• In Mexico it occupies both seasonally dry and wetter tropical environments.

• Adults are usually encountered around forest margins, clearings and flowering vegetation.

• The western Mexican populations are particularly associated with warm lowland and foothill habitats.

Description

• A relatively large hairstreak, with a wingspan of approximately 45–55 mm.

• The upper surface is strikingly iridescent blue to sky-blue, with darker brown or blackish areas along the margins and wing bases.

• The blue colour can appear brilliant turquoise or violet-blue depending on the angle of light.

• The underside is brown to grey-brown with a distinctive arrangement of pale, separated spots and lines. This disjointed spotting is characteristic of Pseudolycaena and provides effective camouflage among leaves.

• The hindwings have short tails and contrasting markings near the anal angle.