''Jamides cyta'', the pale cerulean, is a

butterfly 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 ...

of the lycaenids or blues family. It is found throughout

South-east Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia i ...

, from

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

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 ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, as well as

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

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 ''Eugenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,100 species occur in the New World tropics, ...

'', ''

Elettaria ''Elettaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Zingiberaceae. They are native to India and Sri Lanka, but cultivated and naturalized elsewhere. One member of the genus, '' E. cardamomum'', is a commercially important spice used as ...

'' (including '' E. cardomomum'') and ''

Kaempferia ''Kaempferia'' is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It is native to China, India, and Southeast Asia. The genus is named after the naturalist and traveller Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Japan and east Asia for the years 1689-1693 and wa ...

'' species (including '' K. pandurata''). They are brown with a dark brown head and thorax. They are covered in dense fine hairs.Australian Insects
/ref>

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),

886 __NOTOC__ Year 886 (Roman numerals, DCCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March – A wide-ranging conspiracy against Emperor Basil I, led by John Kourkouas (9t ...

/small> (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

File:JamidesCytaAmphissaMFUpUnAC1.jpg, ''J. c. amphissa'' File:AruanusFUpUns 429 430 AC1.jpg, ''J. c. aruanus'' File:CourvoisieriJamidesNiasTypeUpUn75x6 600.jpg, ''J. c. courvoisieri'' File:Jamides_cytus_claudia.jpg, ''J. c. claudia'' File:Jamides cyta lividus.JPG, ''J. c. lividus'' File:J._cyta_natsumiae,_male.JPG, ''J. c. natsumiae'' male File:J._cyta_natsumiae,_female.JPG, ''J. c. natsumiae'' female File:RoberIrisDresden1886TafIV.jpg, ''J. c. aruanus'' male (figure 12), ''J. cyta nemea'' as ''callinicus'' (Röber, 1886) (male figure 15), ''J. cyta optimus'' (Röber, 1886) (male figure 16), ''J. cyta optimus'' (Röber, 1886) as ''griseus'' (male figure 18)

References

*, 1832. ''Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe'' (etc.). Faune entomologique de l'Ocean Pacifique (etc.). Paris. J Tastu, 716 pp. *, 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. *, 1999. ''The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea'' Academic Press, *, 1989. On some type specimens of Lycaenidae from South East Asia. ''Tyô to Ga'' 40(1): 23–80. Butterflies described in 1832 Jamides Butterflies of Borneo {{Polyommatini-stub