Life Cycle and Morphometric Characteristics of Blue Butterfly (Lampides boeticus L.) in Cowpea

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) (Family: Fabaceae) is a multipurpose pulse crop, serving as a protein source for the major population. Numerous factors, both living and non-living, influence the production, quality, and yield of cowpeas. These include abiotic stress like heat and water scarcity, along with challenges posed by pests and diseases. The blue butterfly (Lampides boeticus L.) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) has emerged as a major pest in India, particularly affecting crops like cowpea, sunn hemp, and other pulses. Limited research exists on the identification and life stages of this pest in the Gangetic plaines making it hard to manage. This study aimed to fulfill these gaps by investigating the life cycle and morphometrics characteristics of Lampides boeticus L. The results showed that the blue butterfly exhibited sexual dimorphism where female is dark brown and blue coloured on their dorsal surface and obscure white marginal crescents on hind wings, abdomen longer and broader at the tip, whereas male have a violet blue colouration on their dorsal surface and two dorsal spots on hind wings and the mean duration of egg, larval, pre-pupal and pupal stages were 2.40- ± -0.50, 10.00 -± -0.89, 1.33 -±- 0.26 and 5.48- ±- 1.08 days, respectively. Adult males and females survived for 7.60 ± 1.06 and 8.80 ± 1.23 days. Morphometric study of different stages of this butterfly showed that eggs were 0.83± 0.17 mm in diameter, larvae (different instars) varied from 3.49± 0.02 mm to 14.75± 2.58 mm in length and 0.95± 0.43 mm to 4.32±1.92 mm in width. The pupal dimensions were 8.54± 1.77 and 3.35± 0.89 mm in size. The adult male and female butterfly measured 12.01± 1.81 mm and 11.80 ± 1.31mm in length and 1.94± 0.85 mm and 1.94±0.88 mm in width, having wing span of 28.33± 0.07 mm, and 29.96± 0.38, mm respectively. The present study confirmed the presence of L. borticus which requires immense attention to plan the management strategy against this pest.