Spalgis epius
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| Spalgis epius (Westwood, 1851) |
The Apefly (Spalgis epius) is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.
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[edit] Description
[edit] Male
Upperside: dull brown, slightly darker towards the apex of the fore wing; also a more or less quadrate whitish spot beyond the apex of the cell on the same wing; in some specimens this spot is slightly diffuse. Underside : pale, silky, brownish-white; fore and hind wings crossed by numerous, very slender, short, sinuous, transverse, dark brown strigae which are outwardly slenderly edged with brownish-white of a shade paler than that of the ground-colour; both wings with an anticiliary dark brown line with on the inner side a similar edging. Fore wing, in addition, with an oval white spot beyond the cell. Cilia of both fore and hind wings of the same shade as the ground-colour of the wings. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen pale brown, club of antennae ochraceous at apex; beneath : the palpi and thorax brownish-grey, abdomen pale brown.
[edit] Female
Upperside: slightly paler brown. Fore wing: the cell and apex darker; a white spot similar to that in the male but larger, beyond the apex of the cell; in most specimens extended diffusely outwards and downwards. Hind wing: similar to that of the male. Underside: precisely as in the male.[1]
[edit] Life cycle
The caterpillars of this butterfly like other members of the subfamily Miletinae are entomophagous and are predators of scale insects.[2] The species unlike many other lycaenid butterflies is not myrmecophilous.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Bingham, C. T. (1907) Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2.
- ^ Venkatesha, M. G., L. Shashikumar, S.S.Gayathri Devi (2004) Protective devices of the carnivorous butterfly, Spalgis epius (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) Current Science 87(5): 571-572PDF
- ^ Venkatesha, M. G. (2005) Why is homopterophagous butterfly, Spalgis epius (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) amyrmecophilous? Current Science 89(2):245-246 PDF
[edit] See also
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