Arhopala madytus Fruhstorfer, 1914
Bright Oak-blue
 (one synonym : Narathura madytus Evans, 1957)
ARHOPALINI,   THECLINAE,   LYCAENIDAE,   PAPILIONOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Arhopala madytus
Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

These Caterpillars are green with a brown pattern on their back. They can make clicking sounds by rubbing sugments 5 and 6 together. They live by day in a silk shelter between joined leaves of a food plant. Nocturnally they feed on:

  • Cottonwood ( Hibiscus tiliaceus , MALVACEAE ),
  • False Almond ( Terminalia catappa, COMBRETACEAE ),
  • Black Damson ( Terminalia melanocarpa, COMBRETACEAE ), and
  • Sovereignwood ( Terminalia sericocarpa, COMBRETACEAE ).

    They are attended by the green ants :

  • Citrus Ants ( Oecophylla smaragdina, FORMICINAE ).

    The pupa is green with a length of about 2 cms. It is formed in the joined leaf shelter.

    Arhopala madytus
    Female
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The male adult butterflies are a brilliant metallic bluish-purple, with a narrow black border around each wing. The females are similar but have a much wider black border. The hind wings of both sexes each have a little tail. The butterflies have a wing span of about 4 cms.

    Arhopala madytus
    (Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, Cairns, Queensland)

    Underneath, the butterflies are brown, with arcs of dark spots outlined in pale brown. There is a blue stripe along the rear margin by the tail of each hind wing.

    The species is found on

  • New Guinea and adjacent islands,

    and also in Australia on the

  • north-east coast of Queensland.

    Arhopala madytus
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay)

    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, p. 689.

    Hans Fruhstorfer,
    Neue Arhopala Rassen,
    Correspondenz-blatt des Entomologischen Vereins "Iris" zu Dresden,
    Volume 27, Part 4 (1914), p. 159.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 222.

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    (updated 12 May 2008, 23 December 2023)