Pseudodipsas cephenes

Pseudodipsas cephenes Hewitson, 1874
Cephenes Blue
LUCIINI , THECLINAE , LYCAENIDAE

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

(updated 27 June 2008)

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)

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

Grey Ebony ( Diospyros fasciculosa, EBENACEAE ),

Barbed Wire Bush ( Smilax australis, SMILACACEAE ),

Yellow Wattle, ( Acacia flavescens, MIMOSACEAE ),

Northern Guioa ( Guioa acutifolia, SAPINDACEAE ), and

Halfordia species ( RUTACEAE ).

The Caterpillars are attended by the dull black ants :

Anonychomyrma gilberti ( DOLICHODERINAE ).

(Photos: 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.

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

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.

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

The species occurs the coastal areas of Queensland.