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Mila'sExotic Plants & CuriositiesA living collection by Luminary OdditiesLuminary Oddities · Natural history & art
Arhopala centaurus
Lepidoptera / Lycaenidae
A pointed wing outline and white-tipped hindwing tails frame the Centaur Oakblue's blue upper surfaces and intricate brown underside.
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Arhopala centaurus belongs to the oakblues, a diverse group of lycaenid butterflies. The name is anchored to a type locality near Jakarta, Java. The population occurring in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula is classified as subspecies nakula. [2]
In Singapore, males have purplish-blue upperwings with narrow dark borders; females are paler blue with broader black margins. The brown underside carries darker, pale-edged spots and silvery-green markings near the hindwing tail. The forewing apex is pointed, and each hindwing has a white-tipped tail. [1]
Singapore rearings documented five larval instars. Pupation takes place within a shallow leaf shelter; the brown pupa is secured by silk. [1]
Recorded Singapore hosts include sea almond, Terminalia catappa, and trees in the genus Syzygium. Caterpillars feed on young and partly expanded foliage. [1]
In Singapore rearings, larvae rested beneath their leaf shelters between feeding bouts. [1]
Weaver ants, Oecophylla smaragdina, attend larvae and pupae. In the documented rearings, ants collected secretions from the larval dorsal nectary and also attended exuding pupae. [1]
Fabricius described centaurus in 1775. A 2006 revision re-established Amblypodia pseudocentaurus as a synonym of centaurus and restored nakula as the name for the Malay Peninsula subspecies. These changes reconcile older names without creating additional species. [2]
ButterflyCircle / Horace Tan · Accessed 2026-10-13
Entomological Science / Natural History Museum · Accessed 2026-10-13
Sources checked 2026-10-13. Illustrations · Luminary Oddities.
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