Tarucus theophrastus, the common tiger blue, pointed Pierrot or African Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in the Old World tropics. It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. This is the type species of the genus Tarucus. Description Male upperside pale purple to violet with in certain lights a blue suffusion, the markings of the underside apparent through transparency. Forewing: costal margin above vein 12 suffused strongly with blue; discocellulars with a transverse elongate blackish spot; a slender anteciliary black line. Hindwing: immaculate except for an anteciliary black line as on the forewing. Cilia of both forewings and hindwings dull sullied white with a brownish-black band along their bases. Underside: white with the following black markings: Forewing: an anteciliary line continued along the costa but not up to the base; a streak from base passing obliquely to the costa; an obliquely-placed irregular mark across the cell with a spot below it in interspace 1; a curved interrupted band beyond, that consists of a spot in interspace 9 joined to a transverse bar across the discocellulars and detached from it a spot in interspace 2 that coalesces with another in interspace 1; following this are four upper discal spots two and two placed obliquely, the lower two often coalescent, a transverse postdiscal more or less macular curved band, and a subterminal transverse series of six round equal-sized spots. Hindwing: an obliquely placed basal streak, a row of three spots across the cell, the upper two spots much elongated, a short bar on the discocellulars and an elongate, transverse, subcostal spot above it; four discal spots, the upper four placed obliquely two and two, the lower two transverse, coalescent; postdiscal band, subterminal transverse series of spots and anteciliary line as on the forewing; the postdiscal band lunular, all or some of the spots of the subterminal series with shining bluish metallic scales. Cilia as on the upperside; tail black tipped with white. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen black, the shafts of the antennae ringed with white, the thorax with a little bluish pubescence; beneath: the palpi, thorax and abdomen white. Female upperside: dark brown; bases of the wings suffused with bluish scales. Forewing: the transverse discocellular spot as in the 6 but continued posteriorly by a black spot in interspace 2 coalescent with a similar spot in interspace 1 (in some specimens the latter two spots are only seen by transparency