Poritia hewitsoni
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| Common Gem | ||||||||||||||||
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 Poritia hewitsoni Male left, female right.
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| Poritia hewitsoni (Moore, 1865) |
The Common Gem (Poritia hewitsoni)[1] is a small butterfly found in India, Myanmar[2], Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam[3] that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.
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[edit] Range
It ranges along the Himalayas from Kumaon to Assam in India and onto Myanmar[2]. Recorded from Mangan and Rangpo in Sikkim[4][5].
[edit] Description
A small butterfly, 31 to 38 mm wingspan. Male - Upper dark iridescent blue, usually with sub-marginal and apical spots. The cell on UPF is entirely devoid of blue or with a minute blue spot at the base in some cases. Males also have a tufted brand on the upper HW above vein 7. The underside is brown with variable pale lineation. Females - Brown above, with a few blue spots. The upper forewing has a yellow discal patch above blue area.[4][5].
[edit] Taxonomy
The butterfly has five subspecies in South Asia[2] :-
- P. hewitsoni hewitsoni Moore, 1865 - Kumaon to Assam and Not Rare as per Evans[2]. Sikkim to North Myanmar and North Thailand[3].
- P. hewitsoni tavoyana Doherty 1889 - Myanmar. Not Rare.[2] Manipur, S.Burma, Thailand - Peninsular Malaya.[3]
- P. hewitsoni taleva Corbet, 1940 - Penminsular Malaya.[3]
- P. hewitsoni ampsaga Fruhstorfer, 1912 - Vietnam.[3]
[edit] Habits
The Common Gem is a butterfly found flying high in the lowland jungles. The males tend to fly rapidly and settle on leaves[4]. Occurs in Sikkim in October and November. The tufted brand on the male hind-wing has a discernible, distinct odour[5].
[edit] Life History
- Egg - Truncate, half as long as wide. With two vertical and sloping and two horizontal faces[4].
[edit] Cited references
- ^ Card for species hewitsoni in LepIndex. Accessed 04 December 2006.
- ^ a b c d e Evans,W.H.(1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies, ser no H2.5, pg 208.
- ^ a b c d e Page on Marrku Savela's site for genus Poritia (Lycaenidae).
- ^ a b c d Haribal, Meena. (1994) The Butterflies of Sikkim, ser no 106, pp 91-92, Plate 25 (images of male & female).
- ^ a b c Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, pg 252.
[edit] References
[edit] References
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. 2nd Ed, (i to x, pp454, 9 figs, Plates I to XXXII), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
- Haribal, Meena. (1992) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History (pp 217). Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.Online
Online
- Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. [1] (accessed 26 September 2007).
- Savela, Marrku Website on Lepidoptera [2] (accessed 26 September 2007)
