The primary attendant ants for J. evagoras are small black Iridomyrmex species such as: I. gracilis; I. mattiroloi; I. septentrionalis group; I. complex A sp. B; I. complex A sp. C; I. complex A sp. D (Eastwood et al. 2006). Other primary attendant ants recorded in the literature include I. anceps, I. rufoniger, I. agilis (Eastwood & Fraser 1999; Pierce & Nash 1999) but the identity of these ants needs confirmation. Under laboratory conditions, or during population expansions, J. evagoras has been recorded with Notoncus capitatus; Anonychomyrma nitidiceps; Iridomyrmes purpureus; Froggattella kirbii; Ochetellus glaber; Dolichoderus scrobitulatus, Camponotus sp.; and Papyrius nitidus (Eastwood & Fraser 1999).

References cited:

Eastwood, R. and Fraser, A. M. 1999. Associations between lycaenid butterflies and ants in Australia.  Australian Journal of Ecology 24: 503-537.

Eastwood, R., Pierce, N. E., Kitching, R. L., and Hughes, J. M. 2006.  Do ants enhance diversification in lycaenid butterflies?  Phylogeographic evidence from a model myrmecophile, Jalmenus evagoras.  Evolution 60(2): 315-327.

Attendant ants protect the juvenile stages of J. evagoras against predators and parasitoids, and in return, the larvae provide the ants with food rewards, secreted from specialized exocrine glands (Kitching 1983; Pierce 1983; Pierce et al. 1987). The larvae and pupae of J. evagoras associate with several different species of ants throughout their range, primarily in the genus Iridomyrmex (Eastwood et al. 2006); however, at any one location, the juvenile butterflies are usually associated with one species of ant. It is worth noting that in 1989, and again in 1991, populations of J. evagoras in northern New South Wales (near Armidale and Ebor) were unusually abundant, most likely because of early rainfall. In these years, the majority of the localized populations of J. evagoras were found associating with their usual Iridomyrmex ants as in other years. However, in a surprising number of cases, one or two trees at any given field site contained juveniles of J. evagoras casually associating with several extremely different species of ants. The situation seems to be analogous to an 'outbreak' year of a phytophagous insect, when a dramatic rise in the density of an herbivore results in the destruction of large stands of host plants (typically trees) and is often accompanied by the use of novel host taxa (Barbosa and Schultz 1987). This kind of outbreak phenomenon is significant because it suggests that the specificity seen in certain lycaenid–ant interactions may result in part from ecological forces such as competition between ant species for lycaenids. Having said this, however, the clear phylogenetic association which can be seen between certain lycaenid taxa and their associated ants nevertheless indicates that historical processes and constraints presumably imposed by the difficulty of evolving complex chemical, morphological and behavioural cues to interact with novel ant species must also play an essential role in shaping species-specific interactions.

Must acknowledge information sourced from:

Pierce, N. E. and Nash, D. R. 1999. The Imperial Blue, Jalmenus evagoras (Lycaenidae). In: Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 6. Biology of Australian Butterflies (eds. R. L. Kitching, E. Scheermeyer, R. E. Jones and N. E. Pierce) pp. 279-315. CSIRO, Melbourne.

References cited:

Barbosa P. and Schultz, J.C. (eds) 1987. Insect outbreaks. 578 pp. Academic Press, San Diego.

Eastwood, R., Pierce, N. E., Kitching, R. L., and Hughes, J. M. 2006.  Do ants enhance diversification in lycaenid butterflies?  Phylogeographic evidence from a model myrmecophile, Jalmenus evagoras.  Evolution 60(2): 315-327.

Kitching, R. L. 1983. Myrmecophilous organs of the larva and pupa of the lycaenid butterfly Jalmenus evagoras (Donovan). Journal of Natural History 17: 471-481.

Pierce, N.E. 1983. The ecology and evolution of symbioses between lycaenid butterflies and ants. PhD thesis, Harvard University.

Pierce, N. E., Kitching, R. L., Buckley, R. C., Taylor, M. F. J. and Benbow, K. F. 1987. The costs and benefits of cooperation between the Australian lycaenid butterfly, Jalmenus evagoras, and its attendant ants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 21: 237-248.