Anthene lycaenoides (C. Felder 1860)
Pale Ciliate-blue
(previously known as Dipsas lycaenoides)
LYCAENESTHINI,   POLYOMMATINAE,   LYCAENIDAE,   PAPILIONOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Anthene lycaenoides
female
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay)

This Caterpillar can be any colour, from yellow through green to purple, depending on the colour of the flower buds it is eating. It often has a pale sub-dorsal bands. It has been found feeding on a the flower buds of a wide variety of Australian native and introduced plants, including :

  • Golden Shower ( Cassia fistula, CAESALPINIACEAE ),
  • Supplejack ( Flagellaria indica, COMMELINACEAE ),
  • Pop-gun Seed ( Bridelia tomentosa, EUPHORBIACEAE ),
  • Pongam ( Pongamia pinnata, FABACEAE ),
  • Lolly Bush ( Clerodendrum floribundum, LAMIACEAE ),
  • Timor Liana ( Rhyssopterys timorensis, MALPIGHIACEAE ), and
  • Carrotwood ( Cupaniopsis anacardioides, SAPINDACEAE ).

    The caterpillars are often attended by ants of a variety of species, including :

  • Citrus Ants ( Oecophylla smaragdina, FORMICINAE ),
  • Acrobat Ants ( Crematogaster, MYRMICINAE ),
  • Black Ants ( Iridomyrmex anceps, DOLICHODERINAE ), and
  • Rusty Trapdoor Ants ( Odontomachus ruficeps, PONERINAE ).

    Anthene lycaenoides
    (Photo: courtesy of Mark Hopkinson)

    The pupa is green with a yellow line along the back. Its length is about 1 cm. It is formed typically on top a foodplant leaf, and held by the tail and a girdle.

    Anthene lycaenoides
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay)

    The adult male butterflies are lilac on top, whereas the females are brown with lilac toward the base of each wing, and have a white patch in the middle of each forewing. Both sexes have a small tail at the tornus of each hindwing. Underneath, both sexes are fawn with arcs of darker markings, and an orange-edged black spot by the hindwing tail. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.

    Anthene lycaenoides
    eggs between flower buds
    (Photo: courtesy of John Lahey, Brisbane, Queensland)

    The eggs are pale blue, covered in a white polygonal network., and The eggs are shaped like a flattened sphere. They are laid singly on flower buds or young shoots of a foodplant.

    Anthene lycaenoides
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of John Lahey, Brisbane, Queensland)

    Various subspecies are found in

  • Indonesia,
  • Malaysia,
  • New Guinea, and
  • Thailand,

    The subspecies godeffroyi (Semper, [1879]) is found in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.

    Anthene lycaenoides
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 752-753.

    Baron Cajetan von Felder,
    Lepidopterorum Amboienensium species novae diagnosibus,
    Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe,
    Volume 40, Series 11 (1860), p. 454, No. 21.


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    (updated 28 September 2010, 23 December 2023)