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Mila'sExotic Plants & CuriositiesA living collection by Luminary OdditiesLuminary Oddities · Natural history & art
Curetis santana
Lepidoptera / Lycaenidae
Copper-orange upperwings and a silvery underside give the Malayan Sunbeam sharply different appearances in flight and at rest.
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Curetis santana is a sunbeam butterfly in Lycaenidae. Singapore's population belongs to subspecies malayica. [1]
Coppery upperwing fields are enclosed by dark borders. The underside is silver-white with faint transverse markings; on the forewing, an oblique band runs inward from near the apex. [1]
In Singapore, malayica occurs around the central forest reserves and wooded parkland, including the Southern Ridges and Sentosa. [2]
Females place individual, sculptured eggs on young shoots. Singapore rearings documented four larval instars and a jade-green pupa held by a silken girdle. [2]
Larvae consume young leaves of Callerya atropurpurea and Millettia pinnata, the latter also widely known as Pongamia pinnata. [2]
Adults bask with the wings open. Singapore observations also record puddling, when butterflies settle on damp ground and draw up moisture. [2]
From the second instar, larvae bear paired rear processes that can evert whorls of hairs when disturbed. [2]
Sex differences are strongest on the upper surface. Males have larger orange fields and narrower dark borders; females have much broader dark margins and a reduced orange hindwing area. [2]
National Parks Board, Singapore · Accessed 2026-10-13
ButterflyCircle / Horace Tan · Accessed 2026-10-13
Sources checked 2026-10-13. Illustrations · Luminary Oddities.
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