Pseudodipsas cephenes

Pseudodipsas cephenes Hewitson, 1874
Bright Forest-blue
LUCIINI, THECLINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA

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

Pseudodipsas cephenes
(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

This Caterpillars is green with 'S' shaped yellow lines on each shoulder of each segment.

(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The caterpillars rest by day in a sheltered spot on the food plant, which may be :

Grey Ebony ( Diospyros fasciculosa, EBENACEAE ),

Yellow Wattle, ( Acacia flavescens, MIMOSACEAE ),

Saffron Heart ( Halfordia kendack, RUTACEAE ),

Northern Guioa ( Guioa acutifolia, SAPINDACEAE ), and

Barbed Wire Bush ( Smilax australis, SMILACACEAE ).

The caterpillars are attended by the dull black ants :

Anonychomyrma gilberti ( DOLICHODERINAE ).

(Photo: courtesy of Bob Miller and Ian Hill)

The caterpillar pupates in a crack or hole in a branch, the pupa being held by the tail and a central silken girdle. The pupa is brown with a narrow dark line along the back.

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

The butterflies are dark brown with iridescent blue patches on top. These patches are more turquoise in the male, and more purplish in the female. The females are 10% larger than the males.

male
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The undersides are fawn, with arcs of darker markings. The hindwings also have a number of small black crescents along the tornus, both on the upper and lower surfaces. These are more pronounced in the female. The wingspan is about 2.5 cms.

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

The eggs are laid in in small groups of one to three on a foodplant.

The species occurs the coastal areas of

Queensland, and

New South Wales.