Cigaritis lohita

Cigaritis lohita

Cigaritis lohita. Underside on right.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Cigaritis
Species:	C. lohita
Binomial name
*Cigaritis lohita* (Horsfield, 1829)
Synonyms
Amblypodia lohita Horsfield, 1829 Spindasis lohita (Horsfield); Cigaritis lohita (Horsfield); Aphnaeus lazularia Moore, [1881] Aphnaeus himalayanus Moore, 1884 Aphnaeus lohita senama Fruhstorfer, 1912 Aphnaeus zebrinus Moore, 1884 Spindasis milleri Corbet, 1940 Aphnaeus lohita batina Fruhstorfer, 1912 Aphnaeus lohita panasa Fruhstorfer, 1912 Aphnaeus formosanus Moore, 1877

Cigaritis lohita, common name Long-banded Silverline, is a species of lycaenid or blue butterfly

Subspecies

Cigaritis lohita lohita (Horsfield, 1829) - Java
Cigaritis lohita lazularia (Moore, 1881) - Sri Lanka
Cigaritis lohita himalayanus (Moore, 1884) - India, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Sikkim to Burma, northern Thailand
Cigaritis lohita senama (Fruhstorfer, 1912) - Sumatra, Peninsular Malaya, Singapore, Langkawi, southern Thailand
- Cigaritis lohita senama f. zebrinus Moore, 1884 - Sri Lanka
Cigaritis lohita batina (Fruhstorfer, 1912) - southern Vietnam, China: southern Yunnan
Cigaritis lohita panasa (Fruhstorfer, 1912) - northern Vietnam
Cigaritis lohita formosana (Moore, 1877) - Taiwan

^[1]

Description

The wingspan of Cigaritis lohita reach 27–32 millimetres (1.1–1.3 in). The upperside of the forewings is dark brown, while the hindwings are bright blue, with orange markings at the base. On the underside of the wings these butterflies have a distinctive pattern of red-bordered silvery stripes. The hindwings show two white-tipped 'false antennae' tails. ^[2]

Host plants

This species had been recorded on: Coffea liberica (Rubiaceae), Dioscorea sp. (Dioscoreaceae) Glochidion rubrum (Euphorbiaceae), Hiptage benghalensis (Malpighiaceae), Litchi sp. (Sapindaceae), Xylia sp. and Peltophorum sp. (Leguminosae) as well as on Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae).^[3]^[1]

Distribution

This species can be found in China, Assam, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Burma, Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Peninsular Malaya and Vietnam.^[1]

Cigaritis lohita in Buxa Tiger Reserve, India.
Cigaritis lohita himalayanus. Mounted specimen. Upperside

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cigaritis lohita.

Wikispecies has information related to: Cigaritis lohita

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