''Hypolycaena phorbas'' is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

. It is found in

Waigeo Waigeo is an island in Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi, or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands Raja Ampat, or the ''Four Kings'', is an archipelago loc ...

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and c ...

Roon Island Roon may refer to: People *Albrecht von Roon (1803–1879), Prussian soldier and politician Ships * , a German armored cruiser of World War I * SS ''Roon'', a German passenger steamship launched in 1902 operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeut ...

, mainland

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and various outlying islands as well as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is about 30 mm. Adults are brown on top. The forewings of the males have a blue sheen and a large dark patch in the middle, while females have a white patch with a blue edge. The hindwings of both males and females have two tails beside a large black and white eyespot. The underside is fawn, with two rows of darker spots parallel to the wing margins. There are two small orange and black eyespots on the underside of the hindwings. The larvae have been recorded feeding on the leaves, young shoots, buds, and flowers of a wide range of plants, including ''

Flagellaria indica ''Flagellaria indica'' is a climbing plant found in many of the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World, India, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, Polynesia, and Australia. A strong climber, it grows often up to tall, with thick cane-like ...

'', ''

Dendrophthoe vitellina ''Dendrophthoe vitellina'', commonly known as long-flowered- or apostle mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant of the mistletoe family Loranthaceae. The genus ''Dendrophthoe'' comprises about 31 species spread across tropical Africa, Asia, and Aust ...

'', '' Cassia alata'', ''

Cassia fistula ''Cassia fistula'', commonly known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, or pudding-pipe tree,U. S. Department of Agriculture, William Saunders; Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture; ...

'', ''

Cupaniopsis anacardioides ''Cupaniopsis anacardioides'', with common names tuckeroo, carrotwood, beach tamarind and green-leaved tamarind, is a species of flowering tree in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, that is native to eastern and northern Australia. The usual ha ...

'', ''

Acmena ''Acmena'' was formerly the name of a genus of shrubs and trees in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. The genus was first formally described in 1828 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in his ''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis''. The spec ...

'', ''

Eugenia ''Eugenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,100 species occur in the New World tropics, ...

'', '' Suzygium wilsoni'', ''

Planchonia careya ''Planchonia careya'' is a tree species in the family Lecythidaceae. Common names include cocky apple, cockatoo apple and billygoat plum. The species should not be confused with ''Terminalia ferdinandiana'', with which it shares some common nam ...

'', ''

Ceriops tagal ''Ceriops tagal'', commonly known as spurred mangrove or Indian mangrove, is a mangrove tree species in the family Rhizophoraceae. It is a protected tree in South Africa. The specific epithet ' is a plant name from the Tagalog language. Descrip ...

'', ''

Lumnitzera racemosa ''Lumnitzera racemosa'', commonly known as the white-flowered black mangrove, is a species of mangrove in the family Combretaceae. It is found on the eastern coast of Africa and other places in the western Indo-Pacific region. It has one accept ...

'', '' Terminalia melanocarpa'', ''

Aegiceras corniculatum ''Aegiceras corniculatum'', commonly known as black mangrove, river mangrove, goat's horn mangrove, or khalsi, is a species of shrub or tree mangrove in the primrose family, Primulaceae, with a distribution in coastal and estuarine areas ranging ...

'', ''

Clerodendrum floribundum ''Clerodendrum floribundum'', known as the lolly bush or smooth clerodendrum, is a shrub or tree found in Australia and New Guinea. The habitat is in or at the margins of coastal rainforests, up to 300 metres above sea level. In Western Australi ...

'', '' Clerodendrum inerme'' and ''

Oxera splendida ''Oxera splendida'' is an evergreen vine in the family Lamiaceae which produces white, fragrant flowers and white, egg-shaped fruit. It naturally is occurs in the tropical rain forests of tropical Asia and Australia and is often sighted along rai ...

''.''Hypolycaena''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' They are green or brown, with a white-edged dorsal line. They are attended by ''

Oecophylla smaragdina ''Oecophylla smaragdina'' ( common names include Asian weaver ant, weaver ant, green ant, green tree ant, semut rangrang, semut kerangga, and orange gaster) is a species of arboreal ant found in tropical Asia and Australia. These ants form colon ...

'' ants. They usually hide under a leaf during the day. Pupation takes place on the stem of the food plant, often in groups. The pupa is green or brown with dark flecks and mottling.

Subspecies

*''H. p. phorbas'' (Cape York to Yeppoon) *''H. p. ingura'' Tindale, 1923 (Northern Territory) *''H. p. silo'' Fruhstorfer, 1912 (West Irian, Papua) (= ''H. p. walteri'' Fruhstorfer, 1916) *''H. p. dictaea'' C. & R. Felder, 1865 (Waigeu, Misool and possibly Salawati) *''H. p. infumata'' Fruhstorfer, 1910 (Manam Island) *''H. p. periphorbas'' Butler, 1882 (New Britain) *''H. p. pseudophorbas'' Fruhstorfer, 1914 (Biak, Roon island) (= ''H. p. latostrigatus'' van Eecke, 1915)

Gallery

Image:Hypolycaena_phorbas_silo_male.JPG, ''H. p. silo'', male Image:Hypolycaena_phorbas_silo_female.JPG, ''H. p. silo'', female Image:Hypolycaena_phorbas_dictaea_female.JPG, ''H. p. dictaea'', male Image:Hypolycaena_phorbas_dictaea_female2.JPG, ''H. p. dictaea'', female

References

Butterflies described in 1793 Hypolycaenini {{Theclinae-stub