Jalmenus icilius

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea

Familia: Lycaenidae
Subfamilia: Theclinae
Tribus: Zesiini
Genus: Jalmenus
Species: Jalmenus icilius
Subspecies: (3) per Savela, Funet.
J. i. icilius – J. i. mitchelli – J. i. parvus
Name

Jalmenus icilius Hewitson, 1865.

Type locality: Australia.

Syntype(s): BMNH ♂, Hewitson (in original description gave no locality).
Synonymy

Ialmenus icilius Hewitson, 1865: 54, pl.24, fig.3; Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914: 128 figs 445-447.
Cupido oeneus Tepper, 1882: 29, pl. 2, fig.9.
Jalmenus icilius (Hewitson); Lewis, 1974: 177(29); D'Abrera, 1977: 307.

References

D'Abrera, B. 1977. Butterflies of the Australian Region, edn 2. 415 pp. Lansdowne, Melbourne. Reference page.
Edwards, E.O.E., [1951]. New races of Ialmenus icilius. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of New South Wales 1949-50: 58–60. BHL. Reference page.
Hewitson, W.C. 1863–1878. Illustrations of diurnal Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae. London, van Vorst, x + 229 pp, 107 pls. Text, plates. Reference page.
Lewis, H. L., 1974. Butterflies of the World xvi + 104pp., 208 pls. Harrap, London.
Miskin, W.H. 1876. Descriptions of new species of Australian diurnal Lepidoptera. Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. 1876: 451–457. BHL. Reference page.
Tepper, J. G. O., [1882]. The Papilionidae of South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 4: 25-36, pls 2,3. Reference page.
Waterhouse, G.A. & Lyell, G. 1914. The Butterflies of Australia. A monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera. 238 pp., 888 figs. Sydney. BHL Reference page.

Jalmenus icilius, the Icilius blue or amethyst hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in all mainland states of Australia, throughout much of the subtropical areas of the inland, from the Selwyn Range and from Carnarvon to Kalgoorlie. It is generally common except in the south-eastern end of its range in central and western Victoria, where it is now very scarce.

The wingspan is about 30 mm.

The larvae feed on a wide range of plants, including Cassia artemisioides, Cassia nemophila, Daviesia benthamii, and the Acacia species: A. acuminata, A. anceps, A. aneura, A. dealbata, A. deanei, A. harpophylla, A. mearnsii, A. parramattensis, A. pendula, A. pycnantha, A. rubida, A. saligna and A. victoriae.

The caterpillars are attended by the ant species Iridomyrmex rufoniger.