The Princess Flash, Deudorix smilis Hewitson, 1863 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), in northern Australia

The Princess Flash, Deudorix smilis dalyensis (Le Souëf & Tindale, 1970), is a spectacular lycaenid butterfly endemic to the Top End of the Northern Territory of northern Australia. In this article, I summarise available information on its geographical distribution, habitat, larval food plant (Strychnos lucida) specialisation, life cycle, seasonality and adult behaviour. New data on its seasonality and behaviour indicate that, although the immature and adult stages are most abundant during the mid-dry season (MayJuly), they also occur during most other months, suggesting that the species probably breeds continuously throughout the year. Females are active mainly from the mid-morning to early or mid-afternoon and they reside within the breeding habitat where they seek out fruits of the larval food plant on which to lay their eggs, whereas males are active only during the mid-afternoon when they employ mate-location behaviour to locate receptive females for mating. Male mate-location behaviour consists of visiting landmarks (such as hilltops) for at least two hours during the mid-afternoon, exhibiting territoriality by engaging in defence against conspecific males, and adopting a perching habit by sitting with wings generally closed on the foliage of trees in sunlit patches (25 m above ground level on hilltops) while waiting for females. It is hypothesised that landmarks for hilltopping behaviour and the availability of a network of monsoon forest patches within the savannah landscape are critical ecological resources that allow D. smilis to survive and breed continuously, particularly when the population reaches low abundance (SeptemberJanuary).