Jalmenus ictinus

4 Stencilled Hairstreak at Mount Ainslie

Jalmenus ictinus at Mount Ainslie - 29 Dec 2023
Request use of media

Identification history

Jalmenus ictinus 29 Dec 2023 owenh
Jalmenus ictinus 29 Dec 2023 g4vpmuk

Identify this sighting


Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

5 comments

owenh wrote:
   29 Dec 2023
Confirming species only - interested to know why you suggest female. Associated plant looks like St. John's Wort.
g4vpmuk wrote:
   29 Dec 2023
I’ll take your word for it re the flower. When it opened its wings there were blue patches on the uppersides which I believe indicates a female.
owenh wrote:
   29 Dec 2023
Thanks g4vpmuk, you are correct, females of this species can usually show irridescent blue central areas on the upperside but colouration is variable. Due to this variation best we refer to Michael Braby who notes 'In the male, the central area is usually bluish-green, but in some specimens is bright blue or green; in the female it varies from green, through bluish-green, blue, purplish-blue to purple' (Butterflies of Australia, Vol 2. CSIRO Publishing 2000). As such, suggest that unless we can observe specific behaviour difficult to determine sex in the field. Thank you for your record.
g4vpmuk wrote:
   29 Dec 2023
No problem. The coloured patches were actually a bluish-purple.
HelenCross wrote:
   29 Dec 2023
Glad you were able to see your 30th butterfly species while in Australia!

Please Login or Register to comment.

Location information

Sighting information

Additional information

  • St. John’s Wort Associated plant
  • 25mm to 50mm Animal size
  • Female Gender
  • Alive / healthy Animal health
  • Feeding on nectar or pollen Insect behaviour on flower

Species information

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
1,899,378 sightings of 21,125 species in 9,329 locations from 12,967 contributors
CCA 3.0 | privacy
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.