Spalgis epius

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Apefly

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Papilionoidea
Family:	Lycaenidae
Subfamily:	Miletinae
Genus:	Spalgis
Species:	S. epius

Binomial name

Spalgis epius
(Westwood, 1851)

The Apefly (Spalgis epius) is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.

1 Description
- 1.1 Male
- 1.2 Female
2 Life cycle
3 References
4 See also

[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