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  • Roger Grund

South Australian
Butterflies & Moths

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Gallery

Catalog Fiery Jewel Gallery

Adults

ignitus_ad_m.jpg (28.9 KB)

Photography by L. Hunt

ignitus_ad2.jpg (35.6 KB)

Photography by L. Hunt

Male left and female right from Yorke Peninsula

ignitus_adm_MR5.jpg (48.0 KB)
ignitus_adm_MR6.jpg (48.2 KB)

Male
from the Upper Southeast

ignitus_adm_MR.jpg (48.1 KB)

Male from Upper Southeast

ignitus_adm_V.jpg (38.1 KB)

Male from west Victoria

The presence of metallic glint is dependant on both viewing and incident light angles.

With metallic blue detail on hindwing not showing

With metallic blue detail on hindwing showing

ignitus_adm_MR4.jpg (36.2 KB)

Male from Upper Southeast with upperside purple colour not showing

ignitus_adm_MR2.jpg (54.2 KB)
ignitus_adm_MR3.jpg (59.8 KB)

Males from Upper Southeast
showing full upperside colour

Food Host

ignitus_pycnantha_Bel.jpg (51.0 KB)

The small, spindly green plant in the centre foreground is a young broad-leaved Acacia pycnantha, which has a colony of the Fiery Jewel living on it.

The brown leaves are where the larvae have eaten and caused the leaves to die and turn brown. There is an ant byre at the base of the plant.

ignitusbyre_pyc_Bel.jpg(55.0 KB)

Closeup of the ant byre at the base of the above plant

Larval Attendant Ant

ignitus_la_War.jpg (28.6 KB)

Numerous Papyrius ants attending a group of night feeding larvae on Acacia leiophylla

ignitus_la2_War.jpg (47.1 KB)

Immature larva being attended to by Papyrius ants.
Ants are 4 mm long.

Larvae

ignitus_la3_War.jpg (39.4 KB)
ignitus_la4_Innes.jpg (27.1 KB)

Mature larvae,
head on right

ignitus_la5_War.jpg (52.7 KB)

Mature larvae which have been feeding on leaves of a broad leaved Acacia.
They have eaten the cuticle off the leaf surface causing the sub-cuticle area
to die and turn brown.

All photography by R. Grund unless stated otherwise.