Delias belladonna
| Hill Jezebel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pieridae |
| Genus: | Delias |
| Species: | D. belladonna |
| Binomial name | |
| Delias belladonna (Fabricius, 1793) | |
Delias belladonna, the Hill Jezebel, is a medium-sized mountain butterfly of India and adjacent countries. It belongs to the Family Pieridae, that is, the Yellows and Whites.
Description
Male has the upperside dusky brownish black to black. Fore wing with the following diffuse white markings : Cell with an oblique sub- apical bar, an angulated discal series of three upper spots inclined obliquely outwards and three lower spots inclined obliquely inwards ; in most specimens the oblique bar in the cell and the lower two of the discal series of spots are extended diffusely inwards ; finally, a subterminal series of large rounded spots white inwardly, irrorated with black scales outwardly. Hind wing : dorsal margin, including interspaces la, 1 and 2, basal half whitish, apical half more or less strongly tinged with pure canary-yellow ; a large oval yellow spot at base of interspaces 7 and 8 ; a broad, ill-defined diffuse whitish streak in cell ; a discal series of diffuse whitish spots that is angulated outwards at interspace 5, the posterior spots more or less tinged with yellow ; followed by a subterminal series of whitish spots as on the fore wing, only slightly tinged with yellow. Underside: ground-colour similar but more brownish, markings similar but more clearly and sharply defined ; the subterminal series of spots on both fore and hind wings more or less dentate ; the upper three spots of this series on the fore wing and generally all of the spots on the hind wing yellow ; on the hind wing the dorsal margin and the cell-streak are also yellow, while the discal series of spots are more often than not tinged with the same colour. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black, the antennae annulated obscurely with white, the abdomen beneath white.[1]
Female is similar, ground-colour always paler and duller: markings on the upperside less distinct, the subterminal series of spots on the fore wing as a rule farther from the margin than in the male.[1]
Wing expanse of 70-98 mm.
Distribution
The Himalayas from Kulu to Sikkim ; Bhutan from 2000 to 7000 feet ; Assam : the Khasi Hills ; the hills of Burma and Tenasserim ; extending into Siam and China.[1]