Megisba malaya
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| Megisba malaya (Horsfield, 1828) |
The Malayan (Megisba malaya)[1] is a small butterfly found in South Asia[2] that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.
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[edit] Range
It ranges from Sri Lanka, South India to Bengal, and from Kumaon to Assam in India onto Myanmar[2]. The butterfly is also found in Andaman and Nicobars[3].
[edit] Status
Not Rare as per Haribal[3]. Not Rare to Rare as per Wynter-Blyth[2].
[edit] Description
Wet-season form — Upperside: from dull somewhat pale brown to dark brown, some specimens nearly uniform, others with a more or less distinct pale discal patch on the fore wing. Hindwing: uniform; a slender short filamentous tail at apex of vein 1,very often absent. Underside: white. Forewing: with the following brown markings:—a spot in cell, a transverse short line on the discocellulars, a postdiscal curved series of transverse spots or very short bars that cross the wing from costa to dorsum and are in irregular echelon one with the other, followed by a slender transverse broken line, a subterminal series of broader transverse spots and an anticiliary slender line; at apex of wing the markings are diffuse and form a very small brown-shaded patch, while further inwards along the costa veins 10, 11 and 12 terminate in a minute brown dot. Hindwing : three spots near base in transverse order, a large, conspicuous, rounded, subcostal and a smaller similar spot near the middle of the dorsum, black; between the latter two and also along the discocellulars are some irregular much paler brown transverse spots on the disc, which are followed as on the fore wing by an outer postdiscal, very slender brown line, a subterminal series of brown or black spots, and a black anticiliary line. Cilia of fore and hind wings white, turning to dark brown at apex of fore wing. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen dark brown, the antenna ringed narrowly with white; beneath: the palpi, thorax and abdomen snow-white, the third, slender acicular joint of the palpi conspicuously brown.[4]
Dry-season brood.— Very similar to the wet-season brood, but the forewing on the upperside bears a large, oval, obliquely-placed conical patch that extends from the middle of the dorsal margin to vein 4. In certain specimens this white bar or patch is continued on to the hind wing. Underside: similar to that of the wet-season form but all the markings broader, coarser, more prominent. Forewing: costa and apex in some specimens broadly shaded with diffuse fuscous brown; the outer postdiseal brown line formed into a series of lunules that extend outwards slenderly along the veins and join the anticiliary brown line, thus enclosing in the interspaces a series of spots of the white ground colour, each of which is centred with a black or dark brown subtriangular spot. Hindwing: the terminal markings modified as on the fore wing; the spot in interspace 3 of the subterminal series larger and more prominent than the others, the large subcostal black spot often broken by an anterior and a posterior silvery spot superposed on it. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in specimens of the wet-season brood but slightly darker above.[4]
[edit] Taxonomy
The butterfly has three subspecies in India -
- M. malaya thwaites Moore - Sri Lanka, South India to Bengal. Not rare. Tailless.[5]
- M. malaya sikkima Moore - Kumaon to Myanmar. Andamans. Not Rare.Tailed.[5]
- M. malaya presbyter Fruhstorfer - Central and South Nicobars. Rare.[5]
[edit] Habits
The Malayan is a butterfly of evergreen forests. It flies low, close to the ground. It is often seen in forest glades and forest edges. The males frequent cowdung and damp patches. The tailed and tailless subspecies are both found in Sikkim, the tailed variety is more commonly found at lower altitudes.[3]. The butterfly resembles the Quaker, especially in flight. The female Malayan has a broader and more rounded forewing than the male.[2].
[edit] Life History
Larva: Light green, vermiform, middle segments swollen.[3] Pupa : Thick, with blunted ends.[3] Foodplants : Allophyllus cobbe (Sapindaceae).[2]
[edit] Cited references
- ^ Card for species malaya in LepIndex. Accessed 05 December 2006.
- ^ a b c d e Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, pg 272-273.
- ^ a b c d e Haribal, Meena (1994) Butterflies of Sikkim, pg 121.
- ^ a b Bingham, C. T. (1907) Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2.
- ^ a b c Evans,W.H.(1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies, ser no H20.1, pg 220.
[edit] References
- Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/lepindex [accessed 04 December 2006].
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
- Gaonkar, Harish (1996) Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a threatened mountain system. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
- Gay,Thomas; Kehimkar,Isaac & Punetha,J.C.(1992) Common Butterflies of India. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
- Haribal, Meena (1994) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History.
- Kunte,Krushnamegh (2005) Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press.
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
