Subspecies Liphyra brassolis major Rothschild, 1898
- Liphyra brassolis major Rothschild, L.W. 1898. On some new or rare Lepidoptera of the Old World regions. Novitates Zoologicae 5(1): 96-102 [97].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH ♀ (Rothschild in the original description mentioned a type), Cedar Bay, thirty miles S of Cooktown, QLD (designated in original description).
Paratype(s) BMNH 1♀, Cedar Bay, QLD
Comment: Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp. [339] (referred to a holotype and gave type information). - Liphyra brassolis melania Waterhouse, G.A. & Lyell, G. 1914. The Butterflies of Australia: a monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera introducing a complete scheme of structural classification, and giving descriptions and illustrations of all the butterflies found in Australia, including a number now recorded for the first time. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 239 pp. 38 pls + 3 unnumbered colour pls. [Date published 25 July 1914] [135].
Type data:
Lectotype AM KL21197 ♂, Darwin, NT (designated in original description)
Comment: Waterhouse & Lyell in the original description listed three males; Tindale, N.B. 1923. On Australian Rhopalocera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 47: 342–354 pls 28–30 [349] (designated a type female which has no status).
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [422]
- Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp. [339]
Distribution
States
Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
From Kalumburu Mission, WA, across N Australia to Cape York and south to Yeppoon, QLD; extralimital distribution—Indonesia (Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea.
IBRA
NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
- Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
- Western Australia: N coastal
- Indonesia
- Irian Jaya
- Papua New Guinea
Ecological Descriptors
Larva: myrmecophagous (host(s): Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius, 1775) [FORMICIDAE] Green Tree Ant).
Extra Ecological Information
Eggs are laid on the underside of branches or on the trunk of a tree infested with the ant species Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius, 1775) and have an incubation period of about three weeks, larvae are predacious and feed on the body fluids of ant larvae, they remain within the ant nest, adults emerge after about three weeks pupation, covered in deciduous scales which aid escape from the ants nest, adults do not feed, are active by day but most are collected at lights at night.
General References
Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [421] (distribution, identification, life-history)
Dodd, F.P. 1902. Contribution to the life-history of Liphyra brassolis, Westw. The Entomologist 35: 153-156, 184-188 [153]
Johnson, S.J. & Valentine, P.S. 1986. Observations on Liphyra brassolis Westwood (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in North Queensland. Australian Entomological Magazine 13(1, 2): 22-26 [Date published 2/Apr/1986] [22] (biology)
Samson, C. & Smart, P. 1980. A review of the genus Liphyra (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) of Indo-Australia, with descriptions of two new subspecies from the Solomon Archipelago. The Aurelian. A journal of Lepidoptera 1(4): 6-16 [11] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Samson, C. & Smart, P. 1980. A review of the genus Liphyra (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) of Indo-Australia, with descriptions of two new subspecies from the Solomon Archipelago. The Aurelian. A journal of Lepidoptera 1(4): 6-16 [11] (taxonomy, biology)
Waterhouse, G.A. & Lyell, G. 1914. The Butterflies of Australia: a monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera introducing a complete scheme of structural classification, and giving descriptions and illustrations of all the butterflies found in Australia, including a number now recorded for the first time. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 239 pp. 38 pls + 3 unnumbered colour pls. [Date published 25 July 1914] [134] (taxonomy, as subspecies)
Yeates, D.K. 1990. New records of butterflies from the east Kimberley, WA. Australian Entomological Magazine 17(3): 73-74 [74] (WA specimens)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07-Mar-2024 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby |
| 04-Feb-2023 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 22-Dec-2023 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby (ANU) |
| 13-May-2022 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby |
| 26-Feb-2021 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby |
| 04-Jun-2020 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby |
| 04-Jun-2020 | LYCAENIDAE Leach, 1815 | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | |
| 06-Sep-2017 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | |
| 06-Sep-2017 | LYCAENIDAE | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Federica Turco (QM) |
| 05-Mar-2013 | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | ||
| 30-Mar-2012 | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | ||
| 05-Apr-2011 | MOVED |