Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Anthene Doubleday, 1847
Species: lycaenina R. Felder, 1868
Subspecies: miya Fruhstorfer, 1916
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 12-15mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Bridelia tomentosa (Phyllanthaceae, common names: Pop-gun Seed, 土蜜树), Nephelium lappaceum (Sapindaceae, common name: Rambutan), Dendrolobium umbellatum (Fabaceae, common names: Dendulang, Petai Belalang, Petai Laut, Sea Dendrolobium, 伞花假木豆), Adenanthera pavonina (Fabaceae, common name: Saga).
A male Pointed Ciliate Blue puddling on wet ground.
Another puddling male Pointed Ciliate Blue.
A female Pointed Ciliate Blue.
Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
On the upperside, the male is purplish blue while the female is brown and iridescent blue at the basal areas of the both fore- and hindwings. On the underside, both sexes are pale greyish brown with a series of white striations on both wings. On the hindwing underside, there is a prominent black spot on the dorsum, a large black spot at the base of space 7 and an orange-crowned tornal spot in space 2. Also on the hindwing, there are short fine tails at the end of veins 1b, 2 and 3. These fine tails are an extension of the cilia. The tail at the end of vein 3 is the shortest of the three and barely noticeable.
A view of the upperside of a male Pointed Ciliate Blue.
A view of the upperside of a female Pointed Ciliate Blue.
A male Pointed Ciliate Blue.
Field Observations:
Pointed Ciliate Blue is moderately rare in Singapore. Adults have been observed to visit flowers for nectar in gardens and forested areas. Males are often encountered puddling on damp footpaths, and is partial to human perspiration. The adults have a rapid and erratic flight, but tend to fly short distances if not unduly alarmed.
A newly eclosed male Pointed Ciliate Blue.
A male Pointed Ciliate Blue puddling.
Another puddling male Pointed Ciliate Blue.
Early Stages:
A video clip showing various stages of the life cycle of the Pointed Ciliate Blue.
The caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue is polyphagous, and is known to utilize plants in a number of families as larval food plants. Locally in Singapore, we have recorded four plants to date. These plants are Bridelia tomentosa (Phyllanthaceae), Nephelium lappaceum (Sapindaceae), Dendrolobium umbellatum (Fabaceae) and Adenanthera pavonina (Fabaceae) The caterpillars of the Pointed Ciliate Blue feed on flower buds, flowers and young shoots of these plants.
Host plant #1: Bridelia tomentosa (Pop-gun Seed).
Host plant #2: Nephelium lappaceum (Rambutan).
Host plant #3: Dendrolobium umbellatum (Dendulang, Petai Belalang, Petai Laut, Sea Dendrolobium).
Host plant #4: Adenanthera pavonina (Saga).
Each egg is about 0.6-0.7mm in basal diameter, and whitish with a strong greenish undertone. It is dome-shaped with a slightly depressed micropylar at the center of the top surface. The egg surface is reticulated with prominent polygonal ridges.
Two views of an egg of the Pointed Ciliate Blue.
Left: fully developed egg. Right: caterpillar nibbling away the egg shell.
It takes about 3 days for the egg to hatch. The caterpillar nibbles away the top portion of the egg shell to emerge but does not bother to completely devour the remaining egg shell. The newly hatched has a pale yellowish body with a length of about 0.9mm. Its head is similarly coloured. The body also features pale yellowish setae (hair) dorso-laterally and along the body fringe. These young caterpillars feed by grazing on the surface of the young leaf or flower buds of the host plant. After about 3 days of growth in the first instar, and reaching a length of about 1.9mm, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.
Hatching time! A newly hatched caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue having its first bite near the empty egg shell.
Two views of a newly hatched caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, length: 1mm.
Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, length: 1.8mm.
Two views of a late 1st instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, become dormant soon prior to its moult to the next instar.
In the 2nd instar, there are numerous tiny pale brown speckles covering the body surface. The caterpillar is pale to dark yellowish brown in colour. At this stage, the dorsal nectary organ on the 7th abdominal segment is present and rather prominent. The 2nd instar caterpillar reaches up to a length of about 3.5-3.6mm, and after about 2-2.5 days in this stage, it moults again.
Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, early in this stage, length: 2mm.
Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, length:3.3mm.
Two views of a late 2nd instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, dormant prior to its moult.
The 3rd instar caterpillar has numerous speckles covering its body surface which is yellowish to dark yellowish green. As the growth progresses in this instar, pale whitish discontinuous bands become more prominent on and next to the dorsum. In some caterpillars, pale reddish coloration appear on the dorsum, and even on the side of the body. The dorsal nectary organ and the pair of tentacular organs, on the 7th and 8th abdominal segments respectively, are now readily observed. The 3rd instar takes about 3 days to complete with the body length reaching 6.5-7mm.
A newly moulted 3rd instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue eating its exuvia, with a small ant tending to it..
Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, early in this stage, length: 3.9mm.
Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, length: 4.5mm.
A late 3rd instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue being tended by ants.
Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue, dormant prior to its moult: 7.4mm.
In the 4th instar, the caterpillar has its body ground colour featured in varying degrees of yellowish green (yellow to green, and intermediaries). On both sides of the thin dorsal bands (reddish or greenish in color), large pale yellowish patches are now present. Along the body fringe, yellowish patches also occur with protrusions towards the dorsal bands. In some specimens, the yellowish patches are also highlighted with reddish markings along their borders. The intensity or prominence of the coloration of these body patches are highly dependent on the larval host plant utilized by the caterpillar. The dorsal nectary organ and the tentacular organs are prominent in this final instar of the larval phase of the life cycle.
Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue on Bridelia tomentosa, early in this stage, length: 8mm.
An early 4th instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue with ants in attendance on Saga.
Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue on Bridelia tomentosa, length: 12mm.
Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue on Rambutan.
Frontal view of a 4th instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue feeding on a flower of Bridelia tomentosa .
Ants attending to a 4th instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue on Saga.
After about 3-4 days of feeding in the 4th instar and reaching a length of up to about 12.5mm, the caterpillar stops food intake and seeks out a pupation site. During this time, its body gradually shrinks and turns almost uniformly green. Typically the caterpillar chooses a spot on a leaf underside for its pupation site. The pre-pupatory caterpillar prepares for pupation by spinning a silk girdle and a silk pad to which it attaches itself via anal claspers.
Two views of a late 4th instar caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue with decolorisation occurring on its body surface.
Two views of a pre-pupa of the Pointed Ciliate Blue on a leaf of Bridelia tomentosa.
After about 1 day as a pre-pupa, pupation takes place. The pupa has a typical lycaenid shape. The colour of the pupa is mainly yellowish green to jade green. A large pinkish diamond-shaped marking is present at the posterior end of the mesothorax on the dorsum. Pupal length: 8.4-9.1mm.
Two views of a green-coloured pupa of the Pointed Ciliate Blue on Bridelia tomentosa.
Two views of a green-coloured pupa of the Pointed Ciliate Blue on Rambutan.
About five days later, the pupa turns dark, first in the wing pad and thorax, then progressively in the abdomen. The extent of the bluish patch in the wing pads gives an early indication of the gender of the soon-to-emerge adult. The next day, the pupal stage comes to an end with the emergence of the adult butterfly.
Two views of a mature pupa of a male Pointed Ciliate Blue.
A newly eclosed male Pointed Ciliate Blue.
References:
Genus: Anthene Doubleday, 1847
Species: lycaenina R. Felder, 1868
Subspecies: miya Fruhstorfer, 1916
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 12-15mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Bridelia tomentosa (Phyllanthaceae, common names: Pop-gun Seed, 土蜜树), Nephelium lappaceum (Sapindaceae, common name: Rambutan), Dendrolobium umbellatum (Fabaceae, common names: Dendulang, Petai Belalang, Petai Laut, Sea Dendrolobium, 伞花假木豆), Adenanthera pavonina (Fabaceae, common name: Saga).
Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
On the upperside, the male is purplish blue while the female is brown and iridescent blue at the basal areas of the both fore- and hindwings. On the underside, both sexes are pale greyish brown with a series of white striations on both wings. On the hindwing underside, there is a prominent black spot on the dorsum, a large black spot at the base of space 7 and an orange-crowned tornal spot in space 2. Also on the hindwing, there are short fine tails at the end of veins 1b, 2 and 3. These fine tails are an extension of the cilia. The tail at the end of vein 3 is the shortest of the three and barely noticeable.
Field Observations:
Pointed Ciliate Blue is moderately rare in Singapore. Adults have been observed to visit flowers for nectar in gardens and forested areas. Males are often encountered puddling on damp footpaths, and is partial to human perspiration. The adults have a rapid and erratic flight, but tend to fly short distances if not unduly alarmed.
Early Stages:
A video clip showing various stages of the life cycle of the Pointed Ciliate Blue.
The caterpillar of the Pointed Ciliate Blue is polyphagous, and is known to utilize plants in a number of families as larval food plants. Locally in Singapore, we have recorded four plants to date. These plants are Bridelia tomentosa (Phyllanthaceae), Nephelium lappaceum (Sapindaceae), Dendrolobium umbellatum (Fabaceae) and Adenanthera pavonina (Fabaceae) The caterpillars of the Pointed Ciliate Blue feed on flower buds, flowers and young shoots of these plants.
Each egg is about 0.6-0.7mm in basal diameter, and whitish with a strong greenish undertone. It is dome-shaped with a slightly depressed micropylar at the center of the top surface. The egg surface is reticulated with prominent polygonal ridges.
It takes about 3 days for the egg to hatch. The caterpillar nibbles away the top portion of the egg shell to emerge but does not bother to completely devour the remaining egg shell. The newly hatched has a pale yellowish body with a length of about 0.9mm. Its head is similarly coloured. The body also features pale yellowish setae (hair) dorso-laterally and along the body fringe. These young caterpillars feed by grazing on the surface of the young leaf or flower buds of the host plant. After about 3 days of growth in the first instar, and reaching a length of about 1.9mm, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.
In the 2nd instar, there are numerous tiny pale brown speckles covering the body surface. The caterpillar is pale to dark yellowish brown in colour. At this stage, the dorsal nectary organ on the 7th abdominal segment is present and rather prominent. The 2nd instar caterpillar reaches up to a length of about 3.5-3.6mm, and after about 2-2.5 days in this stage, it moults again.
The 3rd instar caterpillar has numerous speckles covering its body surface which is yellowish to dark yellowish green. As the growth progresses in this instar, pale whitish discontinuous bands become more prominent on and next to the dorsum. In some caterpillars, pale reddish coloration appear on the dorsum, and even on the side of the body. The dorsal nectary organ and the pair of tentacular organs, on the 7th and 8th abdominal segments respectively, are now readily observed. The 3rd instar takes about 3 days to complete with the body length reaching 6.5-7mm.
In the 4th instar, the caterpillar has its body ground colour featured in varying degrees of yellowish green (yellow to green, and intermediaries). On both sides of the thin dorsal bands (reddish or greenish in color), large pale yellowish patches are now present. Along the body fringe, yellowish patches also occur with protrusions towards the dorsal bands. In some specimens, the yellowish patches are also highlighted with reddish markings along their borders. The intensity or prominence of the coloration of these body patches are highly dependent on the larval host plant utilized by the caterpillar. The dorsal nectary organ and the tentacular organs are prominent in this final instar of the larval phase of the life cycle.
After about 3-4 days of feeding in the 4th instar and reaching a length of up to about 12.5mm, the caterpillar stops food intake and seeks out a pupation site. During this time, its body gradually shrinks and turns almost uniformly green. Typically the caterpillar chooses a spot on a leaf underside for its pupation site. The pre-pupatory caterpillar prepares for pupation by spinning a silk girdle and a silk pad to which it attaches itself via anal claspers.
After about 1 day as a pre-pupa, pupation takes place. The pupa has a typical lycaenid shape. The colour of the pupa is mainly yellowish green to jade green. A large pinkish diamond-shaped marking is present at the posterior end of the mesothorax on the dorsum. Pupal length: 8.4-9.1mm.
About five days later, the pupa turns dark, first in the wing pad and thorax, then progressively in the abdomen. The extent of the bluish patch in the wing pads gives an early indication of the gender of the soon-to-emerge adult. The next day, the pupal stage comes to an end with the emergence of the adult butterfly.
References:
- [C&P5] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, G. and N. van der Poorten (Eds.), 5th Edition, Malayan Nature Society, 2020.
- Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 2nd Edition, 2012.
- A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore, Khew S.K., Ink On Paper Communications, 2nd Edition, 2015.
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