Dichorragia nesimachus

Constable
Constable Butterfly in Meghalaya
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Pseudergolinae
Genus: Dichorragia
Species: D. nesimachus
Binomial name
Dichorragia nesimachus
(Doyere, 1840)
Synonyms

Adolias nesimachus Doyere,[1840] protonym

The Constable Dichorragia nesmachus is a species of Nymphalid butterfly found in Asia. The genus was earlier considered to belong to the subfamily Cyrestinae and sometimes the Apaturinae, but is now considered as an sister of the genus Stibochiona in the subfamily Pseudergolinae.[1][2] Several geographical forms with variations in the colour are noted within the wide distribution range extending from India in the West to Japan in the East. In Vietnam, it is thought to show hill topping behaviour and is typically found in dense forest habitats.[3] [4] They may also be found mud puddling with other species.[5]

A closely related species Dichorragia ninus is found in New Guinea and surrounding islands although some authors include it as a subspecies of D. nesimachus.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ Wahlberg, N., Brower, A. V. Z. & Nylin, S. (2005). "Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of tribes and genera in the subfamily Nymphalinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 86: 227–251. 
  2. ^ Zhang, Min; Yang Zhong; Tianwen Cao; Yupeng Geng; Yuan Zhang; Ke Jin; Zhumei Ren; Rui Zhang; Yaping Guo; Enbo Ma (2008). "Phylogenetic relationship and morphological evolution in the subfamily Limenitidinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)". Progress in Natural Science 18: 1357–1364. http://abi.sxu.edu.cn/docs/20090618120119093957.pdf. 
  3. ^ Spitzer, K; V Novotny; M Tonner & Jan Leps (1993). "Habitat preferences, distribution and seasonality of the butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) in a montane tropical rain forest, Vietnam". Journal of Biogeography 20: 109–121. http://botanika.bf.jcu.cz/suspa/pdf/jbg_20.pdf. 
  4. ^ Saikia, MK; J. Kalita and P. K. Saikia (2009). "Ecology and conservation needs of nymphalid butterflies in disturbed tropical forest of Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot, Assam, India". International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 1 (7): 231–250. http://nebio.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/NeBIO_2010_1_4_03.pdf. 
  5. ^ Kubo, Kaiya (1960). "Butterfly hunting in the mountains of central Japan". J. Lepidopterists' Society 14 (3): 203–207. http://research.yale.edu/peabody/jls/pdfs/1960s/1960/1960-14(3)203-Kubo.pdf. 
  6. ^ Corbet AS, Pendlebury HM, and Eliot JN. (1992). The butterflies of the Malay Peninsula. Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. 
  7. ^ Parsons M. (1999). The butterflies of Papua New Guinea: their systematics and biology. Academic Press, San Diego.