''Ionolyce'' is a small genus of

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of ...

. ''I. helicon'' is widespread in the Indoaustralasian region (

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to the

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...

. ''I selkon'' and ''I.brunnescens'' are both endemic to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

.D'Abrera, B. 1986. ''Butterflies of the Oriental Region'', Part III Lycaenidae & Riodinidae: pp. 536–672. Hill House, Melbourne

Description

Medium-sized blues, the hindwing with a thin, white-tipped tail. The male's upper side is blue violet, the female is brown with scattered blue scales. The underside is brown with fine, white transverse stripes and an orange spot at the rear corner of the hind wing.

Species

*'' Ionolyce brunnescens'' Tite, 1963 *'' Ionolyce helicon'' (Felder, 1860) *'' Ionolyce selkon'' Parsons, 1986

References

"''Ionolyce'' Toxopeus, 1929"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

External links

Images representing ''Ionolyce''
at Bold Polyommatini Lycaenidae genera Taxa named by Lambertus Johannes Toxopeus {{Lycaenidae-stub