The book of earth: butterflies

The Hampson's Hedge Blue (Acytolepis lilacea) is a small butterfly found in Sri Lanka that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.

Description

Male upperside : shining purplish-black. Fore wing: costa narrowly and evenly for throe-fourths of its length from base, apex broadly and terminal margin decreasingly jet-black; cilia black. Hind wing: costa and apex broadly, termen narrowly, bordered with black; a subterminal series of small round black spots that merge anteriorly into the black at apex j cilia black, tipped with white. Underside: opaque chalk-white. Fore wing: the following black markings:—a broad short bar on the discocellulars; a discal transverse series of prominent spots in interspaces 1 to 6, the spot in interspace 1 elongate, in 2 and 3 oval and placed obliquely on the wing, in 4 elongate and pointing obliquely outwards, in 5 and 6 rounded, the spot in interspace 6 shifted a little inwards; beyond these discal markings is a transverse series of slender black lunules, followed by a subterminal series of minute round black spots, one in each interspace and a very slender anti-ciliary black line; cilia on the underside white. Hind wing: also with the following black markings:—a minute spot at base, followed by two larger spots one above the other, a sinuous short line oil the discocellulars, and just beyond it a transverse somewhat curved series of four slightly quadrate spots, two subcostal and two posterior; a discal series ot four more spots, the lowest one curved, the next spot round, the next elongate and placed pointing obliquely outwards, lastly the apical spot of the series round; terminal markings and cilia as on the fore wing. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black, the antenna ringed with white and a white line along the inner and outer orbits of the eyes ; beneath: the palpi, thorax and abdomen white.

Female Upperside: brownish black. Fore wing: from base for a little more than two-thirds of its length and from the posterior half of the discoidal cell to the dorsum white, beautifully glossed with purplish blue at the upper outer corner of the area indicated above, which is pure white. Hind wing: glossed with blue over a broad central area from base to a broad brownish-black terminal border, on the inner margin of which and partially coalescing with it is a transverse series of large round jet-black spots, inwardly narrowly and obscurely margined with bluish white; this colour at the anterior spots carried as streaks inwards for a short distance. Underside: as in the male. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen also similar.

Taxonomy

The butterfly was earlier known as Lycaenopsis lilacea (Hampson).

Range

It is found in Sri Lanka.

source - Wikipedia

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The Adonis blue (Polyommatus bellargus) is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Palearctic ecozone (Western Europe, Central Europe, South Europe, South Russia, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Turkey).

It may be found in chalk downland, in warm sheltered spots, flying low over vegetation, seeking females that are rich chocolate brown in color. The male has brilliantly-colored wings that give it its name.

Description

The males are blue in color with a white border. Females are brown in colour becoming blue towards the body, with orange crescents towards the edges of the wings. Both males and females have pale brown undersides with black spots and orange crescents (1). The caterpillar reaches 1.6 centimetres in length, has a dark green body with dark spines (3), and yellow bands along the back and sides (1).

male

male

female (blue colouration)

female (green colouration)

female
aberration obsoleta

courting pair

Range

Found across Europe; in Britain, the Adonis Blue is at the northern extreme of its range and has always been restricted to the warmer dry calcareous grasslands of southern England. It has suffered a huge decline in the past 200 years, and has been lost from Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, and the Chilterns. The strongholds are Dorset, Wiltshire, Sussex and the Isle of Wight. Over the whole of Britain there has been a decline of over 90% in numbers of this species since 1950.

Taxonomy

German entomologist S. A. von Rottemburg described the Adonis blue in 1775 as Papilio bellargus, noting it was very rare locally but came to his garden in June.

Description

The male has the upper side wings a brilliant sky blue, with a fine black line round the edge and a white margin. The female is chocolate brown with a few blue scales near the base, and with orange spots, bordered by blue scales, around the edge of the hind wing. Look for the chequered fringes in both sexes. The underside is brownish grey with black and orange spots. The wingspan is about 3 cm (1.2 in).

Distribution and habitat

The Adonis blue is found across Europe from Eastern and Central Europe across to southeast England and the Iberian Peninsula.

The preferred habitat of the Adonis blue is calcareous grasslands with hot and dry conditions. This is because the larva feeds on horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) which is largely restricted to these habitats. This plant flourishes on sheep-grazed pastures and disappears after a few years when cattle graze. Sometimes human-created landforms provide refuges for the plant and the butterfly; an example of this is on Martin Down in Dorset, where horseshoe vetch only occurs on ancient earthworks with thin calcareous soils.

Species decline (Great Britain)

The Adonis blue is at the most northerly edge of its range in Britain and has always been restricted to chalk grassland in the south. It has been declining over the last fifty years because its habitat has been disappearing through changing agricultural practices. There are efforts from conservation organisations and local Biodiversity Action Plans to encourage the populations of chalk-grassland butterflies through managed grazing programs. The recent hot and dry weather associated with climate change seems to be beneficial for this species by making more habitats suitable. In 2006 it had returned to a site in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, where it had vanished 40 years previously.

Other

Winter is passed as a small caterpillar
Habitat: Flowery hillsides on chalk and limestone
Food plant: Horseshoe vetch
Flight: May–September, in two broods

source - Wikipedia

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Belenois aurota, the pioneer white or African caper white, is a small to medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in South Asia and Africa. In Africa, it is also known as the brown-veined white, and is well known during summer and autumn when large numbers migrate north-east over the interior.

Description

See glossary for terms used
The upperside of males is white with the forewing having the costa from base to base of vein 11 dusky black and then jet black continuing into a widened and curving short streak along the discocellulars to the lower apex of the cell; apical area diagonally with the termen black, the former with six elongate outwardly pointed spots of the ground colour enclosed one in each of the interspaces 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. Hindwing: uniform, the black along the venation on the underside seen through by transparency; termen between veins 2 and 6 somewhat broadly black, with a series of four round spots of the ground colour in the interspaces; below vein 2 and above vein 6 the termen is very narrowly black. Underside: forewing white, markings similar, more clearly defined, the white spots within the black apical area larger. Hindwing: yellowish white, all the reins very broadly bordered with black; interspaces 1, 2, 6, and 7 with crossbars of black, beyond which there is a subterminal, somewhat broad, transverse band of black between veins 2 and 6. Cilia of both forewings and hindwings white alternated with black. The ground colour on both upper and under sides variable, often cream coloured above; beneath: in some specimens, the base of cell and the elongate spots in apical area of forewing, and the whole surface of the hindwing varies to rich chrome yellow.

Female similar; the black markings on both upper and under sides broader, the white spots on black apical area of forewing often sub-obsolete above.

Antennae in both sexes black, sparsely sprinkled with white dots; head, thorax and abdomen above and below white: thorax above often bluish grey.

Wet-season form in Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Wet-season form in Hyderabad, India

Wet-season form mating in Hyderabad, India

Wet-season form in Hyderabad, India

Wet-season form mating in Hyderabad, India

The dry-season form is similar to the wet-season form but on the upperside the black markings are narrower, the white markings on the black apical area of forewing broader and longer, and on the hindwing the narrow inner margining to the black on the termen very narrow, somewhat obsolescent; therefore, the white subterminal spots have the appearance of opening inwards. Underside: ground colour almost pure white; on the hindwing slightly tinged with yellow. Antennae, head, thorax, and abdomen as in the wet-season form.

Wingspan of 44–62 mm.

Race taprobana, Moore. (Sri Lanka) Differs from the typical form as follows: Male upperside, forewing: deep black on apical area, the enclosed white elongate spots more or less obsolete. Hindwing: the black terminal border much broader and of a deeper black, the enclosed white spots, except the spot in interspace 6, very much smaller, somewhat obsolescent, sometimes absent in interspace 4. Underside: similar to the upperside, the markings of a very intense black and broader, the enclosed spots in the apical area of forewing, the white of the cell and the area along the upper half of the wing generally overlaid with rich chrome yellow. Hindwing: ground colour a deep rich chrome yellow, the spots on it enclosed in the black along terminal margin subhastate (somewhat spear shaped), the spot in interspace 4 absent.

The female is similar to the male on both upper and undersides, but in most specimens, on the upperside, the spots of the white ground colour that are enclosed in the black apical area of the forewing and the spots on the black border along the terminal margin of the hindwing are entirely absent.

Dry-season form in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh, India

Dry-season form in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh, India

Distribution

B. a. aurota on white rhino dung in Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa
The species lives in Sri Lanka, the Himalayas from Kashmir to Sikkim at elevations below 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and through the plains to Southern India. In the Nilgiris observed up to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) (Hampson). To the west it spreads through Persia and Arabia to East Africa. The species occurs over the greater part of Sub-Saharan Africa.

It does not seem to occur in Assam or Burma, but I possess a specimen of the dry-season form taken by Mr. G. Kogers, Deputy Conservator of Forests, in April 1903, in the Ganges harbour, Great Nicobar Island.

— Charles Thomas Bingham 1907
Life cycle

Food plants of the larvae include Capparis zeylanica. In Africa, the host plants are almost exclusively from the family Capparaceae and in particular the genera Boscia, Maerua and Capparis. Eggs are laid in batches of 20 or so, while the newly hatched larvae are gregarious.

When hatched a line long, olive colour, with a distinct glossy jet-black head. After first moult. One fourth inch long; grass-green; dorsal line very distinct, dark green; lateral line very broad, plum-coloured and mottled, dentated into the ground-colour, on the last two segments on its upperside; a small white spot on either side of dorsal line on each segment; a yellow spot on each segment on the lateral line on either side; abdomen glossy green; ventral line distinct, rather interrupted, grass-green; all the legs green, hairy; head shiny black with a green triangular mark in front, covered with stiff whitish hairs; stigmata dark-coloured; sides greyish green, slightly wrinkled transversely; the portion of ground-colour between lateral and dorsal line slightly powdered with yellow; hair whitish grey; anal segment black and hairy; first segment rather swollen in front. After last moult length 1.25 inch long; cylindrical, broader towards the head, slightly tomentose on back, hairy on the sides; otherwise as after first moult Food plant, the pea-leaved caper (Capparis pyrifolia).

— Capt. H. L. Chaumette quoted in Moore and republished by Bingham 1907
Five-eighths of an inch long, transparent, pale cream-colour. In front a longish tubercle directed forwards, with a black mark on each side, and a smaller one on either side of 4th segment perfectly black; a lateral line of pale plum-colour, on which is a longitudinal line of yellow round dots, one on each segment, and a transverse row of dots on each segment; dashed and marked with black, particularly on the abdomen. After the escape of the imago, the 5th and 6th segments of the pupa become blood-red.

— Capt. H. L. Chaumette quoted in Moore and republished by Bingham, 1907

Eggs

Early instar caterpillars

Caterpillar

Final instar caterpillar

Pupae

source - Wikipedia

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Bhutanitis lidderdalii, the Bhutan glory, is a species of swallowtail butterfly (family Papilionidae), which is found in Bhutan, parts of north eastern India and of Southeast Asia. A spectacular insect much sought after by collectors, the species epithet is after Dr R. Lidderdale, from whose collection the butterfly was first described by William Stephen Atkinson in 1873. Listed under CITES Appendix II, but not in the Red Book of the IUCN, the status of the butterfly has been recorded as rare by some authorities and "insufficiently known" in the IUCN Red Data Book on swallowtails.

Description

See glossary for terms used

Illustration accompanying the first description of the Bhutan glory by W.S. Atkinson in 1873 - top and bottom views
The sexes of the Bhutan glory are identical in appearance, having long rounded forewings with convex termen and many-tailed hindwings. The butterfly is dull black above with slim, wavy, cream-coloured striations running vertically across the wings. Above, the hindwing has a prominent, large tornal patch with yellow-orange lunules bordering the tails, central bluish-black patches with white ocelli and a crimson post-discal band on the inner edge. Below, the base colour is greyer, the striations are pronounced and the colours subdued or paler.

The detailed description provided by Charles Thomas Bingham (1907) is as follows:

Males and females have the upperside of wings dull black. Forewing with the following ochraceous white slender markings: basal, sub-basal, medial and preapical lines from costa across cell, the first three continued in a series of more or less diffuse curves to the dorsal margin, the preapical terminates on vein 3; beyond apex of cell a somewhat broken transverse line from costa to vein 3 followed by a complete discal transverse line, a short upper postdiscal somewhat ill-defined line that terminates on vein 4 and a subterminal complete line; all the lines except those that cross the cell formed of a series of short curved lines in the interspaces. Hind wing with similar ochraceous white lines more or less in continuation of those on the forewing with the addition of a broad line along vein 1 and the median vein, these two lines do not reach much beyond the base of vein 4; a large lower discal patch, the inward half scarlet, the outer half velvety-black, followed by broad subterminal bright yellow lunules in interspaces 1 to 4; the tails edged very narrowly with ochraceous white; the black on the outer half of the discal patch has in interspaces 1 and 2 very large ill-defined superposed white spots thickly shaded with brownish grey except along their inner margins. Underside similar, all the markings broader, base of cell in hindwing crossed by a short ochraceous-white bar, and the edges of the pre-costal cell with narrow lines of the same colour. Antennae black; head, thorax and abdomen dull black; the thorax greenish grey laterally, the sides of the abdomen with cross-lines of ochreous white.

Wing expanse: 90–110 mm.

Distribution

Illustration from Bingham's 1907 Butterflies Vol 2 (The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma)
The butterfly was described by William Stephen Atkinson in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London in 1873. He writes:

This fine insect was first discovered in May 1868, near Buxa, in the Bhutan Himalayas, at an elevation of 5000 feet, by Dr R. Lidderdale, of the Bengal Army. Dr Lidderdale obtained two specimens from the same locality in 1872; and from one of these, kindly communicated to me, the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing have been prepared.
I am glad to associate Dr Lidderdale's name with this very interesting discovery, which adds a new and remarkable form to the family of Papilionidae.
Other specimens have since been taken by Lt H.M. Rose of the Bengal Staff Corps.

— W.S. Atkinson, M.A., F.L.S., &c.
George Talbot in The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma (1939) provides some interesting detail:

[Bhutanitis] lidderdalei was first discovered by Dr. Lidderdale in 1868 in Bhutan, at about 6,000 feet, near Buxa. Between 1886 and 1890 the late H. J. Elwes sent three parties of native collectors from Darjeeling to procure the insect. The first was plundered by the Bhotias, the second was attacked by fever and one of its members died, the third had a man killed by a tiger, and all returned unsuccessful. Specimens were later procured by Mr. A. V. Knyvett, then Inspector of Police, who gave them to Mr. Elwes …

The butterfly is found in Bhutan and north eastern India (Assam, Sikkim, Manipur and Nagaland). It is also found in northern Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Szechwan and Yunnan provinces of China. It has recently been reported from Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh.

Taxonomy

There are a total of four subspecies of B. lidderdalii. These subspecies (with type localities) are:

B. lidderdalii lidderdalii Atkinson 1873 - (nominate) Buxa, Bhutan
B. lidderdalii spinosa Stichel, 1907 - Sichuan, China
B. lidderdalii ocellatomaculata Igarashi, 1979 - Chiang Mai, northern Thailand
B. lidderdalii nobucoae Morita, 1997 - north Kachin, Myanmar
^
Status

Specimen from the Natural History Museum in Oslo
The Bhutan glory has been considered to be "rare" by Indian authors such as William Harry Evans (1932), Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth (1957) and Isaac Kehimkar (2009). The nominate subspecies is protected under law in India.

However Collins and Morris (1985) in the IUCN Red Data Book on the threatened swallowtails of the world gives it a status of "insufficiently known" arguing that the Bhutan glory is widely distributed and hence unlikely to be in danger at the moment though more information is needed on this comparatively poorly known species, the species not listed in the current Red List of the IUCN. International trade in B. lidderdalii is restricted under CITES Appendix II.

Habitat loss due to excessive felling of forests may be a significant threat regionally.

The Thai subspecies, found in northern Thailand around Chiang Mai is considered to be a relict population and hundreds of specimens were collected annually for the specimen. It is now believed to be extinct, probably due to loss of the population and damage to its habitat by forest fire.

Habitat

B. lidderdalii flies from 5,000 to 9,000 feet (1,500 to 2,700 m) in its Indian range. It generally keeps to the ridges rather than the valleys.

Habits

Flies at tree-top level, with a slow, drifting, unpredictable flight akin to that of the tree nymph (Idea lynceus). The butterflies transparent greyish underside makes it difficult to distinguish in the shadows. During rain, it sits on leaves with the forewings drooped over the hindwings, concealing its bright upper colouration. The butterfly has a habit of hill-topping and visits flowers of diverse species.

Mr. Doherty found this beautiful insect in considerable numbers in the Naga hills. Speaking of its habits and the localities in which it occurs, he says: "It generally keeps to the ridges, occasionally descending into the valley, once almost down to 5000 feet. Afterwards I found it on the western side of Japoo at 7000-8000 feet, and between the two places we got one or two every day. At Mas, in Manipur, I have taken worn specimens at 7500-9000 feet. My Lepchas, who collected at Buxa in Bhutan, say there is no chance of another brood.... The butterfly drifts about among the tree tops, rarely descending to the ground; the crimson of the hind wings is not so conspicuous as one might think, and if one loses sight of it for an instant, it is very hard to make out again, its transparent dark grey wings being hardly distinguishable among the shadows, and it is blown about by the wind more like a dead leaf than a living insect. Its flight is much like that of Hestia but less buoyant and circling, as might be expected from its angular wings; nevertheless its resemblance strikes once. Seen from above it must be much more conspicuous and in no doubt a protected insect; at the same time its weak flight may even add to its chance of escape as it certainly does with Hestia, for it is impossible to calculate the direction in which it is making. The whole body and wings give out a delicious odour, which remains for some days after death. In some positions and at some distance Armandia looks like Danais tytia, Gray, which is very common in the same places. Armandia hovers about flowers like other Papilios. During rain it alights on a leaf and droops its forewings over the hindones, thus covering the bright colours." The late Capt. Watson, who recorded this insect from the Chin Hills in Burma states that it is single-brooded. Mr. Doherty however, in the Naga Hills, took several specimens in good condition towards the end of September, so that apparently there is an autumn brood in some localities.

— C. T. Bingham
Lifecycle

It is known to have two broods - the first in May and June and the second from August to October. Likely to be unpalatable due to its food plant being Aristolochia species.

Food plant

Larva on Aristolochia species such as A. kaempferii, A. mandshuriensis, A. griffithii, A. shimadai and A. debilis (Igarashi, 1985, 1989).

source - Wikipedia

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