Hypochrysops is a genus of butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 in the family Lycaenidae

Lycaenidae

The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...

. This particular Genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 is exclusive to the Australian

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 area with only a few species straying into Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

.

Food Sources

The Mistletoe

Mistletoe

Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemi-parasitic plants in several families in the order Santalales. The plants in question grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub.-Mistletoe in the genus Viscum:...

 plant is ambiguously claimed to be a food source for at least some species of Hypochrysops .

This might be so, but raises some questions because most Lycaenidae have parasitic or mutualistic, often highly specific, relationships with various species of ants, and ants have been reported to carry the eggs of the Apollo Jewel Butterfly (Hypochrysops apollo apollo) into their colonies inside ant plants

Myrmecophyte

Myrmecophyte is a plant that lives in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. There are over 100 different genera of myrmecophytes. These plants possess structural adaptations that provide ants with food and/or shelter. These specialized structures include domatia, food bodies, and...

 of the genus Myrmecodia

Myrmecodia beccarii

Myrmecodia beccarii, Ant-house Plant, is an epiphytic plant on Melaleuca trees and others with spongy bark in the wetlands and mangroves of tropical north Queensland, Australia from Cooktown to Mission Beach. The prickly, swollen stems develop natural hollows which are invaded by the Golden Ant in...

. Myrmecodia species have certain superficial resemblances to "mistletoes", but are epiphytic, not markedly parasitic, and are not in any parasitic plant family; they are in fact in the coffee family, Rubiaceae

Rubiaceae

The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...

. It seems likely that Hypochrysops apollo apollo at least, might feed exclusively on ant food and ant larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e.

Species

• Hypochrysops alyattes - Druce
  Herbert Druce
  Herbert Druce, FLS was a British entomologist.His collections were acquired by Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin before being bequeathed to the Natural History Museum, London....
  
   1891
• Hypochrysops anacletus - Felder 1860
• Hypochrysops antiphon - Grose-Smith 1897
• Hypochrysops apelles - Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
  
   1775
• H. a. singkepe - D'Abrera 1977
• Hypochrysops apollo - Miskin 1891
• H. a. phoebus - Waterhouse 1928
• H. a. wendisi - Bethune-Baker 1909
• Hypochrysops architas - Druce
  Herbert Druce
  Herbert Druce, FLS was a British entomologist.His collections were acquired by Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin before being bequeathed to the Natural History Museum, London....
  
   1891
• H. a. cratevas - Druce
  Herbert Druce
  Herbert Druce, FLS was a British entomologist.His collections were acquired by Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin before being bequeathed to the Natural History Museum, London....
  
   1891
• H. a. suethes - Druce
  Herbert Druce
  Herbert Druce, FLS was a British entomologist.His collections were acquired by Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin before being bequeathed to the Natural History Museum, London....
  
   1891
• Hypochrysops aristocles - Grose-Smith 1898
• Hypochrysops argyriorufa - van Eecke 1924
• Hypochrysops arronica - Felder 1859
• Hypochrysops aurantiaca - Yagishita 2004
• Hypochrysops bakeri - Joicey & Talbot 1916
• Hypochrysops boisduvali - Oberthür 1894
• Hypochrysops byzos
  Hypochrysops byzos
  The Yellow-spot Jewel, Hypochrysops byzos, is a member of the family Lycaenidae. Its range consist of Eastern Australia. The wingspan of both the male and female is about 3cms....
  
  - Boisduval 1832
• H. b. hecalius
• Hypochrysops calliphon - Grose-Smith 1894
• Hypochrysops castaneus - Sands 1986
• Hypochrysops chrysanthis - Felder 1860
• Hypochrysops chrysargyra - Grose-Smith & Kirby 1895
• Hypochrysops chrysodesmus - Grose-Smith & Kirby 1899
• Hypochrysops chrysotoxus - Grose-Smith & Kirby 1890
• Hypochrysops cleon - Grose-Smith 1900
• Hypochrysops coelisparsus - Butler 1883
• H. c. kerri - Riley 1932
• Hypochrysops coruscans - Grose-Smith 1897
• H. c. subcaeruleum - Grose-Smith & Kirby 1896
• H. c. ceramicum - Druce 1903
• H. c. dinawa - Bethune-Baker 1908
• Hypochrysops cyane - Waterhouse & Lyell 1914
• Hypochrysops delicia - Hewitson
  William Chapman Hewitson
  William Chapman Hewitson was a British naturalist, born on 9 January 1806 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and died on 28 May 1878. A wealthy collector, this naturalist was particularly devoted to the Coleoptera and the Lepidoptera and, also, to bird's nests and eggs...
  
   1875
• H. d. delos - Waterhouse & Lyell 1914
• H. d. duaringae - Waterhouse 1903
• H. d. regina - Grose-Smith * Kirby 1895
• Hypochrysops dicomus - Hewitson 1874
• Hypochrysops digglesii - Hewitson 1874
• Hypochrysops dohertyi - Oberthür 1894
• Hypochrysops doleschallii - Felder 1860
• Hypochrysops elgneri - Waterhouse & Lyell 1909
• H. e. barnardi - Waterhouse 1934
• Hypochrysops emiliae - D'Abrera 1971
• Hypochrysops epicurus
  Hypochrysops epicurus
  The H. epicurus is a member of the family Lycaenidae....
  
  - Miskin 1876
• Hypochrysops eucletus - Felder 1865
• H. e. dyope - Grose-Smith & Kirby 1895
• H. e. eratosthenes - Fruhstorfer 1908
• H. e. menandrus - Fruhstorfer 1908
• H. e. vulcanicus - D'Abrera 1971
• Hypochrysops eunice - Fruhstorfer 1915
• Hypochyrsops felderi - Oberthür 1894
• Hypochrysops ferruguineus - Sands 1986
• Hypochrysops geminatus - Sands 1986
• Hypochrysops halyaetus
  Hypochrysops halyaetus
  Hypochrysops halyaetus is a member of the Lycaenidae family of butterflies....
  
  - Hewitson 1874
• Hypochrysops herdonius - Hewitson 1874
• Hypochrysops heros - Grose-Smith 1894
• H. h. imogena - D'Abrera 1971
• H. h. polemon - Fruhstorfer 1915
• Hypochrysops hippuris - Hewitson 1874
• Hypochrysops honora - Grose-Smith 1898
• Hypochrysops hypates - Hewitson 1874
• H. h. zeuxis - Staudinger 1888
• Hypochrysops ignita - Leach 1814
• H. i. chrysonotus - Grose-Smith 1899
• H. i. erythrina - Waterhouse & Lyell 1909
• H. i. olliffi - Miskin 1889
• Hypochrysops lucilla - D'Abrera 1971
• Hypochrysops luteus - Sands 1986
• Hypochrysops makrikii - Ribbe 1900
• Hypochrysops meeki - Rothschild & Jordan 1905
• Hypochrysops mioswara - Bethune-Baker 1913
• Hypochrysops mirabillis - Pagenstecher 1894
• Hypochrysops miraculum - Druce & Bethune-Baker 1893
• Hypochrysops miskini - Waterhouse 1903
• Hypochrysops narcissus
  Hypochrysops narcissus
  Hypochrysops narcissus, commonly known as the narcissus jewel, is a member of the Lycaenidae family of butterflies....
  
  - Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
  
   1775
• Hypochrysops pagenstecheri - Ribbe 1899
• Hypochrysops piceata - Kerr, Macqueen & Sands 1969
• Hypochrysops plotinus - Grose-Smith 1894
• Hypochrysops polycletus - Linnaeus 1758
• H. p. atromarginata - Druce 1891
• H. p. brunnea - Druce 1903
• H. p. epicletus - Felder 1859
• H. p. hylaithus - Fruhstorfer 1908
• H. p. hypochrysops - Oberthür 1880
• H. p. kaystrus - Fruhstorfer 1908
• H. p. linos - Fruhstorfer 1908
• H. p. menyllus - Fruhstorfer 1908
• H. p. oineus - Fruhstorfer 1908
• H. p. rex - Boisduval 1832
• H. p. rovena - Druce 1891
• Hypochrysops pratti - Bethune-Baker 1913
• Hypochrysops protogenes - Felder 1865
• H. p. cleonides - Grose-Smith 1900
• H. p. hermogenes - Grose-Smith 1894
• H. p. pretiosus - Grose-Smith 1894
• H. p. thesaurus - Grose-Smith 1894
• Hypochrysops pyrodes - Cassidy 2003
• Hypochrysops pythias - Felder 1865
• H. p. aurifer - Grose-Smith 1898
• H. p. drucei - Oberthür 1894
• H. p. euclides - Miskin 1889
• Hypochrysops resplendens - Bethune-Baker 1908
• Hypochrysops ribbei - Röber 1886
• Hypochrysops rufimargo - Rothschild 1915
• Hypochrysops rufinus - Grose-Smith 1898
• Hypochrysops scintillans - Butler 1882
• H. s. carveri - D'Abrera 1971
• H. s. carolina - D'Abrera 1971
• H. s. constancea - D'Abrera 1971
• H. s. squalliensis - D'Abrera 1971
• Hypochrysops simplex - Grose-Smith & Kirby 1896
• Hypochrysops siren - Grose-Smith 1894
• Hypochrsops taeniata - Jordan 1908
• Hypochrysops thauma - Staudinger 1895
• Hypochrysops theon - Felder 1865
• H. t. alix - Grose-Smith 1900
• H. t. carmen - Grose-Smith & Kirby 1899
• H. t. medocus - Fruhstorfer 1908
• H. t. theonides - Grose-Smith 1894
• H. t. theophanes - Grose-Smith 1894
• Hypochrysops thesaurus - Grose-Smith 1894
• Hypochrysops utyi - Bethune-Baker 1913