Jamides cyta

Jamides cyta, the pale cerulean, is a butterfly of the lycaenids or blues family. It is found throughout South-east Asia, from Malaysia to the Solomon Islands and the Philippines, as well as Queensland in Australia.

Jamides cyta
J. c. zelea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Jamides
Species:	J. cyta
Binomial name
Jamides cyta (Boisduval, [1832])
Synonyms
Catochrysops cyta Boisduval, [1832] Lampides amphissina var. malaguna Ribbe, 1899 Catochrysops cyta amphissa C. & R. Felder, 1860 Lampides viosa Fruhstorfer, 1915 Lampides amphissina Grose-Smith, 1894 Lampides philatus amphissina Grose-Smith; Seitz, [1923] Plebeius amphissa var. aruanus Röber, [1886] Lampides courvoisieri Fruhstorfer, 1915 Pepliophorus claudia Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914 Lampides hellada Fruhstorfer, 1915 Jamides lamax Riley, 1945 Lampides leiothrix Fruhstorfer, 1915 Lampides cyta lividus Druce, 1895 Lampides madara Fruhstorfer, 1915 Lampides cyta margarita Martin, 1895 Lampides megdora Fruhstorfer, 1915 Lycaena nemea C. Felder, 1860 Cupido nemea (Felder); Kirby, 1871 Plebeius callinicus Röber, 1886 Lampides nemea Lampides vardusia Fruhstorfer, 1915 Lampides amphissa zelea Fruhstorfer, 1915 Lampides cyta zelia

The wingspan is about 30 mm. Adult males are pale blue on top. Females are similar but the forewings have black wing tips and margins, and each hindwing has a subterminal arc of black spots. The underside of both sexes is grey with several arcs of white dashes, and the females often have a white patch under each forewing.

The larvae feed on the flower buds, flowers and fruit of Syzygium puberulum. Other recorded food plants are Eugenia, Elettaria (including E. cardomomum) and Kaempferia species (including K. pandurata). They are brown with a dark brown head and thorax. They are covered in dense fine hairs.[1]

Subspecies

• J. c. cyta (New Ireland, New Hanover)
• J. c. amphissa C. Felder and R. Felder, 1860 (Bachan, Halmahera)
• J. c. amphissina Grose-Smith, 1894 (West Irian: Humboldt Bay)
• J. c. aruanus (Röber), [1886] (Aru)
• J. c. courvoisieri (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (Nias)
• J. c. claudia (Waterhouse and Lyell, 1914) (northern Queensland: Claudie River) - pale cerulean
• J. c. hellada (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (Sula Islands)
• J. c. koenigswarteri Schröder, Treadaway and Nuyda, 1993 (Philippines: Mindoro)
• J. c. lamax Riley, 1945 (Mentawi)
• J. c. leiothrix (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (Enggano)
• J. c. lividus (Druce, 1895) (Borneo)
• J. c. madara (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (Kai Island)
• J. c. margarita (Martin, 1895) (Sumatra)
• J. c. megdora (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (Obi)
• J. c. minna Riley and Corbet, 1938 (Peninsular Malaya, Burma, Thailand)
• J. c. natsumiae H.Hayashi, 1976 (Philippines: Palawan, Alibobogan)
• J. c. nemea C. Felder, 1860 (Indonesia: Maluku, Ambon)
• J. c. raddatzi Schröder and Treadaway, 1984 (Philippines: Sibuyan Island)
• J. c. vardusia (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (Java)
• J. c. zelea (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (southern Sulawesi, Banggai)

Gallery

• 
  J. c. amphissa
• 
  J. c. aruanus
• 
  J. c. courvoisieri
• 
  J. c. claudia
• 
  J. c. lividus
• 
  J. c. natsumiae male
• 
  J. c. natsumiae female

References

1. Australian Insects

• Boisduval, J. B., 1832. Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe (etc.). Faune entomologique de l'Ocean Pacifique (etc.). Paris. J Tastu, 716 pp.
• Hirowatari, T., 1992. A generic classification of the tribe Polyommatini of the Oriental and Australian regions (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Polyommatinae). Bulletin of the University of Osaka Prefecture, Series B, Vol. 44, Suppl.
• Parsons, M., 1999. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea Academic Press, ISBN 0-12-545555-0
• Takanami, Y., 1989. On some type specimens of Lycaenidae from South East Asia. Tyô to Ga 40(1): 23-80.