Hypochrysops narcissus

Hypochrysops narcissus (Fabricius, 1775)
Narcissus Jewel
(one synonym : Hesperia livius Fabricius, 1793)
LUCIINI, THECLINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Hypochrysops narcissus
(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The Caterpillar is brown with a black head, and a yellow 'V' shaped mark on the back of abdominal segment six.

(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The caterpillar has been found feeding on various plants including :

Grey Mangrove ( Avicennia eucalyptifolia, ACANTHACEAE ),

False Almond ( Terminalia catappa, COMBRETACEAE ),

Long Flowered Mistletoe ( Dendrophthoe vitellina, LORANTHACEAE ),

Swamp Mahogany ( Lophostemon suaveolens, MYRTACEAE ),

River Mangrove ( Aegiceras corniculatum, PRIMULACEAE ),

Bakau ( Rhizophora stylosa, RHIZOPHORACEAE ), and

Downy Mistletoe ( Notothixos incanus, SANTALACEAE ).

(Photos: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The pupae are pale grey with dark brown spots.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The upper surface of the adult butterfly is black with blue basal areas.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The undersurfaces of the wings are multicoloured, with areas of brown, yellow, red, black, white, and iridescent green.

male, underside
(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The wingspan is about 3 cms.

female, underside
(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The species occurs in

Indinesia,

and in Australia as two subspecies :

sabirus (Fruhstorfer, 1908) on the Cape York Peninsula, and

narcissus elsewhere in Queensland.

(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 654-655.

Edward Donovan,
General Illustration of Entomology,
An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of New Holland, New Zealand, New Guinea, Otaheite and other Islands in the Indian, Southern and Pacific Oceans,
Volume 1 (1805), p. 138, and also Plate p. 136.

Johan Christian Fabricius,
Historiae Natvralis Favtoribvs,
Systema Entomologiae,
1775, p. 524, No. 342.

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(updated 24 November 2010, 11 November 2013, 27 October 2020, 8 September 2021)