Jalmenus evagoras is found along the east coast of mainland Australia, ranging from Melbourne in the south to just south of Gladstone in the north, and it is common along the coast as well as on the tablelands. The dependence of J. evagoras upon the overlapping requirements of appropriate species of both host plant and attendant ant accounts in part for its extremely patchy and localized distribution (Common and Waterhouse 1981; Smiley et al. 1988; see also Jordano et al. 1992; Costa et al. 1996; Braby 2000; Eastwood et al. 2006). This patchiness is accompanied by strong site fidelity. For example, at one field site in Mt Nebo, Queensland, 74 out of 80 marked individuals were observed almost daily for their entire estimated adult lifespans (3.1 ± 3.5 days for females and 6.9 ± 5.9 days for males; Mean ± SD) (Elgar and Pierce 1988).

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:

Braby, M. F. 2000.  Butterflies of Australia: Their Identification, Biology and Distribution.  CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Common, I.F.B. and Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia, 2nd ed., xiv + 682 pp. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.

Costa, J. T., McDonald, J. H. and Pierce, N. E. 1996. The effect of ant associations on the population genetics of the Australian butterfly Jalmenus evagoras (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 58: 287-306.

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.

Elgar, M. A. and Pierce, N. E. 1988.  Mating success and fecundity in an ant-tended lycaenid butterfly.  Pages 59-75 in Reproductive Success: Studies of Selection and Adaptation in Contrasting Breeding Systems (T. H. CluttonBrock, ed.).  University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Jordano, D., Rodriguez, J., Thomas, C.D., and Haeger, J.F. (1992) The distribution and density of a lycaenid butterfly in relation to Lasius ants. Oecologia 91: 439–446.

Smiley, J. T., Atsatt, P. R. and Pierce, N. E. (1988) Local distribution of the lycaenid butterfly, Jalmenus evagoras, in response to host ants and plants. Oecologia 76: 416-422.