Pseudophilotes vicrama
| Eastern baton blue | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Pseudophilotes |
| Species: | P. vicrama |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudophilotes vicrama (Moore 1865) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The eastern baton blue (Pseudophilotes vicrama)[1] is a small butterfly found from Asia,[2][3] east to Tian Shan and parts of China, west to the Balkan, Turkey, eastern Europe to southern Finland. It belongs to the Lycaenids or blues family.
Taxonomy
The butterfly was earlier known as Polyommatus vicrama (Staudinger).[2]
Range
In Asia, it is found in South Asia from India (Himachal Pradesh) westwards to Balochistan and Chitral in Pakistan.[2]
Wynter-Blyth records the eastern baton blue as not rare locally and occurring in Baluchistan and from Chitral to Shipki La.[4]
As per Savela, the butterfly is found in the Pamirs - Alay Mountains, Ghissar - Darvaz, Tian-Shan, north-west India south-eastEurope, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, western Siberia, Altai, Turan and Kopet-Dagh.[3]
Description
The eastern baton blue is 20 to 26 mm in size. The male butterfly is pale dusky-blue in colour with a broad border while the female is brown. The butterfly is named for its prominent chequered fringe.[4]
Subspecies
- Pseudophilotes vicrama vicrama (Pamirs-Alai, Ghissar-Darvaz, Tian-Shan, north-western India)
- Pseudophilotes vicrama astabene (Hemming, 1932) (Kopet-Dagh)
- Pseudophilotes vicrama clara (Christoph, 1887) (The Balkans, Middle East, Oman, Turkestan)
- Pseudophilotes vicrama pallida (Shchetkin, 1960) (Turan, southern Ghissar)
- Pseudophilotes vicrama schiffermulleri (Hemming, 1929) (south-eastern Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, western Siberia, Altai)
See also
Cited references
- ↑ Card for species vicrama in LepIndex. Accessed 14 October 2006.
- 1 2 3 Evans,W.H.(1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies, ser no H22.2, pg 225.
- 1 2 Page on Marrku Savela's site for genus Pseudophilotes (Lycaenidae).
- 1 2 Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, pg 281.
References
- Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/lepindex [accessed 14 October 2006].
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
- Marrku Savela's Website on Lepidoptera .
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.