Horaga onyx
| Common Onyx | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Horaga onyx sardonyx Fruhstorfer, 1914. The Malaya subspecies. | |
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Horaga |
| Species: | H. onyx |
| Binomial name | |
| Horaga onyx (Moore, 1857). | |
The Common Onyx, Horaga onyx is a species of lycaenid or blue butterfly found in Asia.
See also
Range
The butterfly mostly seen in India (Western Ghats, Maharashtra southwards), Himachal Pradesh to Arunachal Pradesh and also in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka.[1]
Status
Locally common.[1]
Larvae Foodplants
Coriaria nepalensis (Coriariaceae)[1]
Description
The butterfly has a wingspan of 27 to 33 mm. UP: For both sexes, blue with broad black apex, termen and costa. UN: The butterfly has dark yellowish or greenish brown with irregular and variable broad white discal band across their wings. UNF: Male - has a well defined brand along basal half of vein 1. UNH: well defined white band.[1]
Habit and Habitat
Found on thick hilly forests, never found on plains. Their flight is weak, prefers not to come out in the open, but does bask on leaves. In the north it flies up to 2,000 m on the hills when it is on the wing from March to May and in September to October.[1]
Cited references
- 1 2 3 4 5 Isaac Kehimkar (2008) The Book of Indian Butterflies Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University press, Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai
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 5 December 2006].
- Bingham, C. T. (1907) Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2.
- 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.
