''Jalmenus inous'', the Inous blue or varied 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 endemic to coastal

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. 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 various plants, including '' Gastrolobium microcarpum'', '' Daviesia divaricata'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Acacia rostellifera ''Acacia rostellifera'', commonly known as summer-scented wattle or skunk tree, is a coastal tree or small tree in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs along the west coast as far north as Kalbarri in the Southwest Aust ...

'' and ''

Acacia saligna ''Acacia saligna'', commonly known by various names including coojong, golden wreath wattle, orange wattle, blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle, and, in Africa, Port Jackson willow, is a small tree in the family (biology), fami ...

''. The caterpillars are attended by the ant species ''

Iridomyrmex conifer ''Iridomyrmex conifer'' is a species of ant in the genus ''Iridomyrmex''. Endemic to Australia, it was described by Auguste-Henri Forel Auguste-Henri Forel (1 September 1848 – 27 July 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychia ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Jalmenus inous bronwynae'' Johnson & Valentine, 2007 (coastal Western Australia) *''Jalmenus inous inous'' Hewitson, 1865 (south-west coast of Western Australia) *''Jalmenus inous notocrucifer'' Johnson, Hay & Bollam, 1992 (south-west coast of Western Australia)

External links

Australian InsectsAustralian Faunal Directory
Theclinae Butterflies of Australia {{Theclinae-stub