Logania distanti
| Dark Mottle | |
|---|---|
 ![]()  | |
| Museum specimen from Malaya | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia | 
| Phylum: | Arthropoda | 
| Class: | Insecta | 
| Order: | Lepidoptera | 
| Family: | Lycaenidae | 
| Genus: | Logania | 
| Species: | L. distanti | 
| Binomial name | |
|  Logania distanti Semper, 1889  | |
| Synonyms | |
| 
 Logania massalia Doherty, 1891  | |
The Dark Mottle (Logania distanti)[1] is a small but striking butterfly found in India that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.
Description

Male
Upperside dark brown. Fore wing: a medial dull whitish spot at base of interspace 3 extended upwards on to vein 4 and below into interspace 2. Hind wing; uniform, immaculate. Underside: very pale dull brown, with darker brown mottlings and striae, that on the fore wing are absent on a broad streak from base outwards along the basal half of the dorsum, this area pale brown without markings; a dark obscure spot at apex of cell and an incomplete similarly obscure dark transverse discal band. On the hind wing the mottlings coalesce and form three or four very ill-defined, obscure, transverse, somewhat broad bands. Head, thorax and abdomen dark brown. Sex-mark: the base of vein 4 swollen and bare of scales.
Female
"Above black, a round dull white discal area on the fore wing from just above the upper median (vein 4) almost to the submedian vein (vein 1). Below irregularly speckled and variegated; fore wing with the costal and apical parts ochreous brown, the rest blackish. Hind wing also tinged with ochreous, a submarginal dark area, and obscure dark transverse bands. Hind wing not angled, the margin entire." (Doherty quoted in Bingham)[2]
Range
Assam - Burma, Malaya, Borneo?, Thailand, Laos, Sumatra.[1]
Taxonomy
The butterfly is also referred to as Logania massalia Doherty, 1891.[3]
References
- 1 2 Page on Marrku Savela's site for genus Logania (Lycaenidae).
 - ↑ Bingham, C. T. 1907. Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2
 - ↑ Card for species massalia in LepIndex. Accessed 23 March 2007.
 
External links
- Asahi Correctly determined photos of Logania distanti
 
