Centaur Oakblue

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]

The Malay Peninsula population occurs in Singapore's forest reserves, mangroves and wooded parks. A. centaurus is distinct from the Australian oakblue A. eupolis, despite the historical application of the name centaurus to the latter. [1][2]

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]