Erysichton lineatus (Murray, 1874)
Hairy Line-blue
(previously known as Lycaena lineata)
POLYOMMATINI,   POLYOMMATINAE,   LYCAENIDAE,   PAPILIONOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Erysichton lineatus
(Photo: courtesy of Todd Burrows, South Stradbroke Island, Queensland)

This Caterpillar is corrugated and green, with white spiracles and brownish smudges. It has a hairy head and tail. It feeds on the flowers of various species of plant, such as :

  • Kodo Wood ( Ehretia acuminata, BORAGINACEAE ),
  • Rose Satinash ( Syzygium francisii, MYRTACEAE ),
  • Macadamia Nuts ( Macadamia integrifolia, PROTEACEAE ),
  • Corduroy Tamarind ( Mischarytera lautereriana, SAPINDACEAE ), and
  • Flame tree ( Brachychiton acerifolium, STERCULIACEAE ).

    Erysichton lineatus
    pupa
    (Photo: courtesy of Todd Burrows, South Stradbroke Island, Queensland)

    The pupa is brown with darker markings. Its length is about 1 cm.

    Erysichton lineatus
    male
    (Picture: courtesy of the Austraian National Insect Collection)

    The male adults are blue on top.

    Erysichton lineatus
    male
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The females are brown on top with a large white patch on each forewing, and a blue sheen near the base. The hindwings each have a black eye-spot at the tornus. Both sexes have a small tail at the hindwing tornus.

    Erysichton lineatus
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Todd Burrows, South Stradbroke Island, Queensland)

    Underneath, the wings are fawn with arcs of darker markings, and both sexes have a black spot under each hindwing tornus.

    Erysichton lineatus
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, McMahons Point, New South Wales)

    The females also have a large white patch under each forewing. The butterflies have a wing span of about 2 cms.

    Erysichton lineatus
    female: underside
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The eggs are laid on flower buds of a foodplant.

    The species occurs in

  • New Guinea,

    and along most of the east coast of Australia, including

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.


    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 789-790.

    Wesley Jenkinson,
    Life history notes on the Hairy Line-blue Erysichton lineata lineata (Murray, 1874) Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 79 (December 2015), pp. 8-10.

    Rev. Richard Paget Murray,
    Descriptions of some new species belonging to the genus Lycaena,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    Volume 22, Part 4 (1874), pp. 524-525, and also Plate 10, fig. 9.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 224.


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    (updated 16 September 2010, 22 December 2023)