Deudorix epirus (C. Felder, 1860)
Orange-lobed Flash
(previously known as Myrina epirus)
DEUDORIGINI,   THECLINAE,   LYCAENIDAE,   PAPILIONOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Deudorix epirus
early instar
(Photo: courtesy of Mark Hopkinson)

These caterpillars are initially pale brown.

Deudorix epirus
later instar
(Photo: courtesy of Mark Hopkinson)

Later they become white with a black stripe on each side, and black spots along the back. The head is brown, and the prothorax yellow.

Deudorix epirus
later instar
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

The caterpillars feed inside the seeds of plants like :

  • Australian Olive ( Harpullia ramiflora, SAPINDACEAE ).

    Deudorix epirus
    pupa inside seed coating
    (Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

    Pupation occurs inside the case of the seed inside which it was feeding.

    Deudorix epirus
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

    The adult male butterflies of this species have black forewing upper surfaces with a large blue patch on the hind margin, and blue hindwings.

    Deudorix epirus
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

    The females above are similar to the males but with a white patch on each forewing.

    Deudorix epirus
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

    Underneath, both sexes are cream, with a brown margin, and a brown bar across the middle of each wing. The hindwings each have one narrow tail and one broad one. The broad tails have an orange spot on their upper surfaces and a black spot underneath. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    Various subspecies are found in Indonesia, including

  • Papua.

    The subspecies agimar Fruhstorfer, 1908, is found in Australia mainly in

  • north Queensland.


    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, p. 743.

    Baron Cajetan von Felder,
    Lepidopterorum Amboienensium species novae diagnosibus,
    Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe,
    Volume 40, Series 11 (1860), p. 452, No. 13.


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    (updated 29 September 2010, 23 December 2023)