Jalmenus pseudictinus Kerr & Macqueen, 1967
Macqueen's Hairstreak
 ZESIINI,   THECLINAE,   LYCAENIDAE,   PAPILIONOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Jalmenus pseudictinus
(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

This Caterpillar is green with a pair of dark red dorsolarteral lines each containing two diagobal white lines on each segment. The head is black, and there are raised tubercles on each segment. The caterpillar is attended by the black ants :

  • Froggatella kirbyi ( DOLICHODERINAE ).

    Jalmenus pseudictinus
    (Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

    It feeds on the foliage of various plants such as

  • Wet Wattle ( Acacia humifusa, MIMOSACEAE ),
  • Yellow Wattle, ( Acacia flavescens, MIMOSACEAE ),
  • Brigalow ( Acacia harpophylla, MIMOSACEAE ),
  • Bullock Bush ( Alectryon diversifolius, SAPINDACEAE ), and
  • Bird's Eye ( Alectryon connatus, SAPINDACEAE ).

    Jalmenus pseudictinus      Jalmenus pseudictinus
    (Photos: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

    It pupates on a leaf or in a bark crevice of the food plant, the pupa being black. It has a length of about 1.5 cm.

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

    The adult has grey wings with metallic green-blue central areas. There is a short black bar near the middle of the costa of each forewing, and two eye-spots by a little tail on each hindwing.

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

    The under-surface has a pattern of black arcs on a fawn background. There are also a pair of eye-spots by the tail under each hindwing. It has a wingspan of about 3 cms.

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

    It is found only in isolated areas of

  • Queensland.

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

    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 722-723.

    J.F.R. Kerr & Jack Macqueen,
    Notes on the genus Jalmenus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) with a description of a new species,
    Journal of the Australian Entomological Society,
    Volume 6 (1967), pp. 45-48.

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    (updated 30 May 2008, 11 November 2013, 24 July 2020)