Nacaduba cyanea

Nacaduba cyanea, the tailed green-banded line-blue, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, and formerly considered a member of the genus Danis. It is found in the Indonesia (Irian Jaya, Maluku), Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia (Queensland).[2]

Nacaduba cyanea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Nacaduba
Species:	N. cyanea
Binomial name
Nacaduba cyanea (Cramer, [1775])[1]
Subspecies
See text
Synonyms
Papilio cyanea Cramer, [1775] Damis epicoritus Boisduval, 1832 Thysonotis cyanea arinides Fruhstorfer, 1915 Lycaena (Thysonotis) sperchius C. & R. Felder, 1860 Thysonotis sperchius C. & R. Felder, [1865] Lycaena pindus C. & R. Felder, [1865] Cupido arinia Oberthür, 1878 Danis albastola Lucas, 1889 Plebeius illustris Röber, 1886 Thysonotis chromia Druce, 1891 Thysonotis smaragdus Druce & Bethune-Baker, 1893 Thysonotis hamilcar Grose-Smith, 1894 Thysonotis hamilcar ab. intermedius Ribbe, 1899 Thysonotis hamilcar var. pseudochromia Ribbe, 1899 Thysonotis rosselana Bethune-Baker, 1908

The wingspan is about 30 mm. Adult males are blue with a dark brown wing margin. There is a pale blue to white patch on the hindwing. Females are white with a broad black border and a row of blue edged black spots.[3]

The larvae feed on Entada phaseoloides and Entada scandens. They are bright green with pale brown head. The larvae are attended by ants of the genus Anonychomyrma. Pupation takes place in a brown pupa with dark markings

Gallery

• 
  Green-banded line-blue in Cairns
• 
  Green-banded line-blue at Mission Beach

Subspecies

• N. c. arinia (Oberthür, 1878) (Torres Straits Islands, Cooktown to Ingham) - tailed green-banded blue
• N. c. carissima (Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1895) (Flores, Pura, Tanimbar, Timor)
• N. c. chromia (Druce, 1891) (northern Solomons)
• N. c. cyanea (Cramer, 1775) (Ambon, Seram)
• N. c. epicoritus (Boisduval, 1832) (Aru, Gebe, New Guinea, Waigeo)
• N. c. hamilcar (Grose-Smith, 1894) (Admiralty Islands, Bismarck Archipelago)
• N. c. illustris (Röber, 1886) (Kai Islands)
• N. c. murua (Tennent, 2015)[4] (Woodlark Island)
• N. c. obiana (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (Obi)
• N. c. pindus (C. & R. Felder, [1865]) (Bacan, Halmahera, Morotai, Ternate, Salawati)
• N. c. rosselana (Bethune-Baker, 1908) (Louisade Archipelago)
• N. c. sanane (Tennent & Gassó Miracle, 2016)[5] (Buru)
• N. c. smaragdus (Druce & Bethune-Baker, 1893) (Dammer, Wetar)

References

1. Nacaduba, funet.fi
2. Australian Faunal Directory
3. Australian Insects
4. Tennent, W. J. (2015). "A new subspecies of Nacaduba cyanea (Cramer, 1775) from Woodlark Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)" Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereins Apollo, N.F. 36 (4): 219-220.
5. Tennent, W. J. & Gassó Miracle, M. E. (2016). "A new subspecies of Nacaduba cyanea Cramer, 1775, from Buru, Maluku, Indonesia (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)" Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 159 (2): 81-88.