Theclinesthes

Belongs within: Polyommatini.

Theclinesthes is an Australasian genus of blue butterflies whose larvae feed on leaves of a range of plant species (Braby 2000).

Characters (from Braby 2000): Eye hairy; termen of hind wing bearing a variable tail at end of vein CuA, tornal margin slightly produced; veins Sc and R₁ in fore wing fused; male usually bearing ‘racquet-shaped’ sex-scales, with series of ribs bearing nodules, on upperside of wings. Male genitalia with valva triangular with a pointed process on its inner side.

<==Theclinesthes Rober 1891B00
    |--T. onycha groupB00
    |    |--T. albocincta (Waterhouse 1903)B00
    |    |--T. hesperia Sibatani & Grund 1978B00
    |    |    |--T. h. hesperiaB00
    |    |    `--T. h. littoralis Sibatani & Grund 1978B00
    |    |--T. miskini (Lucas 1889)B00
    |    |    |--T. m. miskiniB00
    |    |    |--T. m. arnoldi (Fruhstorfer 1916)B00
    |    |    `--T. m. eucalypti Sibatani & Grund 1978B00
    |    `--T. onycha (Hewitson 1865)B00
    |         |--T. o. onychaB00
    |         `--T. o. capricornia Sibatani & Grund 1978B00
    `--T. serpentatus groupB00
         |--T. serpentatus (Herrich-Schäffer 1869)B12
         |    |--T. s. serpentatusB00
         |    `--T. s. lavara (Couchman 1954)B00
         `--T. sulpitius (Miskin 1890) [incl. T. sulpitius obscura (Waterhouse & Lyell 1914)]B00

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[B00] Braby, M. F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution vol. 2. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood (Victoria).

[B12] Braby, M. F. 2012. The butterflies of El Questro Wilderness Park, with remarks on the taxonomy of the Kimberley fauna, Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 27 (2): 161–175.