The Black and White Tit or Orchid Flash (Hypolycaena danis) is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Lycaenidae

Lycaenidae

The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...

 family. It is found in the Maluku Province in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

  as well as the New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

  region and north-eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is about 30 mm. Adults have white wings with broad black margins. The hindwings have blue edges with black spots and two tails. The underside of the wings is similar, but the pale areas are yellowish.

The larvae feed on Vanda species and Dendrobium bigibbum

Dendrobium bigibbum

The Two-humped Dendrobium is a species of orchid.-Synonyms:*Callista bigibba Kuntze *Callista phalaenopsis Kuntze *Callista sumneri Kuntze...

, Dendrobium canaliculatum, Cattleya

Cattleya

Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...

, Renanthera

Renanthera

Renanthera, abbreviated as Ren in horticultural trade, is a genus of large scrambling monopodial epiphytic and terrestrial species distributed from India, New Guinea, and through to the Philippines. Species in this genus produce a branched inflorescence containing numerous flowers ranging in color...

, Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis Blume , abbreviated Phal in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus of approximately 60 species. Phalaenopsis is one of the most popular orchids in the trade, through the development of many artificial hybrids....

and Phalaenanthe species. They are off-white to reddish green, sometimes with red bands.
Pupation takes place in an off-white pupa, which is attached to the stem of the host plant.

Subspecies

• Hypolycaena danis danis (Bachan, Halmahera, Morotai)
• Hypolycaena danis danisoides de Nicéville, 1897 (Kai Islands)
• Hypolycaena danis deripha Hewitson, 1878 (Aru, New Guinea, Louisade Archipelago)
• Hypolycaena danis milo Grose-Smith (New Britain)
• Hypolycaena danis turneri (Waterhouse, 1903) (Cape York to Cairns)