| Angled Castor | |
|---|---|
| Angled Castor taking off | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Ariadne |
| Species: | A. ariadne |
| Binomial name | |
| Ariadne ariadne (Linnaeus, 1763) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Ergolis ariadne |
|
Ariadne ariadne, also known as the Angled Castor, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in Asia.
Contents |
Males and females have fore wing truncate at apex; termen angulated at interspace 5, and again at apex of vein 3, concave between; tornus obtusely angulate. Hind wing: termen more or less deeply scalloped. Male upperside ochraceous rufous ; a prominent white small subcostal spot before apex of fore wing; two or three dark brown marks in cell of both fore and hind wings, followed by subbasal, discal, two postdiscal, subterminal and terminal slender sinuous dark brown lines, crossing from costa of fore to vein 1 of hind wing; discocellular nervules of both wings defined by short dark brown lines ; cilia white, alternated with brown. Underside : ground-colour similar, but with a tint of brown. Fore and hind wings: some dark chestnut-brown spots or loop-like marks at base, followed by subbasal, discal and postdiscal broad chestnut-brown sinuous bands, interrupted on the fore wing by the sex-mark of specialized scales described below ; the postdiscal band on the hind wing traversed by a series of transverse dark spots in the interspaces. Lastly, both wings crossed by a subterminal zigzag, and a terminal, irregularly sinuous, dark brown line.
Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen ochraceous rufous. Sex-mark : the subcostal vein and veins 6 and 7 on the upperside of the hind wing prominently pale and shining and a large discal patch of specialized, very dark shining scales on the underside of the fore wing extending to the base of the wing, upwards into the cell and to vein 4. Females similar, slightly paler in colour, of course without the special sex-marks.[1]
Ariadne ariadne bears much resemblance to Ariadne merione, the Common Castor, but in the Angled Castor, the transverse chestnut bands are narrower and less diffuse.
Ricinus communis, Tragia cannabina and T. involucrata.[1]
"Cylindrical, slender; two dorsal rows of sharp spines with three or four fine branch spines springing from a point in the middle of each; two rows of similar but shorter spines on each side; one pair of long, strong and straight spines on the head, irregularly set with small spines which cluster at the end ; colour variable, sometimes green with longitudinal dark brown lines, or dark brown with an interrupted broad dorsal stripe of pure white, not extending to either end." (Davidson & Aitken.)[1]
"Slender, wing-cases somewhat dilated, a dorsal protuberance and two small cephalic points : colour variable : rigidly attached by the tail, so that if the surface is vertical, the pupa stands out horizontally." (Davidson & Aitken.)[1]