''Jalmenus icilius'', the Icilius blue or amethyst hairstreak, is a butterfly 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 all mainland states of

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 ...

, throughout much of the subtropical areas of the inland, from the Selwyn Range and from Carnarvon to

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. It is generally common except in the south-eastern end of its range in central and western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, where it is now very scarce. 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. The larvae feed on a wide range of plants, including '' Cassia artemisioides'', '' Cassia nemophila'', ''

Daviesia benthamii ''Daviesia benthamii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the west of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with scattered, cylindrical, sharply pointed phyllodes, and yellow-orange and reddish-bro ...

'', and the ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' 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 ''Iridomyrmex rufoniger'' is a species of ant in the genus ''Iridomyrmex''. It was described by Lowne in 1865. The species is endemic to Australia and introduced to several other countries. Taxonomy The species was first described by Lowne in 18 ...

''.

External links

Australian InsectsAustralian Faunal Directory
Theclinae Taxa named by William Chapman Hewitson Taxa described in 1865 {{Theclinae-stub