Poritia erycinoides
| Blue gem | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Poritia erycinoides Upperside left, underside right.From Seitz | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Poritia |
| Species: | P. erycinoides |
| Binomial name | |
| Poritia erycinoides (C. Felder, 1865) | |
Poritia erycinoides, the blue gem, [1] is a small butterfly foundin India, Myanmar[2] and parts of South-East Asia[3] that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Range
It ranges along the Himalayas from Assam in India to North Myanmar and South to Shan states and Southern Myanmar.[2][4] As per Savela, the butterfly ranges from Assam, Burma, Malaya, Langkawi, Tioman Islands, Borneo, Java and Thailand.[3]
Status
Not Rare as per Evans.[2] Rare as per Wynter-Blyth.[4]
Description
A small butterfly, 26 to 36 mm in wingspan. The basal half or more of the call in upper forewing is blue, with blue spots present in the apex and termen. Females - The upper forewing has a yellow discal patch above the blue area. The upper hindwing blue area is small and reduced to dical quadrate spots in 3 and 4. The females resemble those of the common gem (P. hewitsoni) but with yellow spots on the upper hindwing. The males of the blue gem are bluer than the common gem which is greener.[4]
Taxonomy
Five subspecies of the butterfly have been described:[3]-
- P. erycinoides erycinoides C. Felder, 1865 - Java.[3]
- P. erycinoides elsiei Evans, 1925. Assam - North Myanmar. Not Rare.[2] As per Savela, Burma, N.Thailand.[3]
- P. erycinoides phraatica Hewitson, 1878 - South Shan States - South Myanmar. Not Rare.[2] As per Savela, Thailand - Peninsular Malaya, Langkawi, Tioman Is.[3]
- P. erycinoides trishna Fruhstorfer, 1919 - Assam, ?Nepal, ?Sikkim.[3]
- P. ertcinoides phaluke Druce, 1895 - Borneo.[3]
Cited references
- ↑ Card for species erycinoides in LepIndex. Accessed 4 December 2006.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Evans,W.H.(1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies, ser no H2.7, pg 208-209.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Page on Marrku Savela's site for genus Poritia (Lycaenidae).
- 1 2 3 Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, pg 252.
See also
References
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. 2nd Ed, (i to x, pp454, 9 figs, Plates I to XXXII), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.Online
Online
- Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. (accessed 26 September 2007).
- Savela, Marrku Website on Lepidoptera (accessed 26 September 2007)
External links
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