Amathuxidia amythaon
| Koh-i-noor | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Not evaluated (IUCN 2.3) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Tribe: | Amathusiini |
| Genus: | Amathuxidia |
| Species: | A. amythaon |
| Binomial name | |
| Amathuxidia amythaon (Doubleday, 1847) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Amathusia amythaon | |
The Koh-i-noor (Amathuxidia amythaon) is a butterfly found in Asia. It belongs to the Morphinae, a subfamily of the Brush-footed butterflies.
Distribution
The Koh-i-noor ranges from in India from Sikkim to Assam and onto Myanmar. The butterfly has a wide range in Southeast Asia, from Malaysia to the Indonesian Archipelago (Sumatra, Borneo, Enggano and Java) and the Philippines (Leyte, Samar, Panaon, Negros and Mindanao).[1]
Evans and Wynter-Blyth reported the butterfly to be rare west of Myanmar in the early-mid 20th century.[2]
Description
- See glossary for terms used
Male upperside is brownish black with white cilia. A broad pale blue discal band extending from costa to near apex of vein 1. Hind wing uniform without markings. Underside pinkish buff, with the following dark brown lines crossing both fore and hind wing: basal, extending to little beyond the middle of vein 2 in the hind wing, subbasal crossing from subcostal of fore to median vein of hind wing, discal from costa of fore to near tornus of hind wing, postdiscal from costa of fore to tornus of hind wing, thence bending upwards at an angle and following the dorsal margin of hind wing, and subterminal somewhat indistinct on the fore, well-defined and broadening towards tornus of hind wing. In addition to these there are on the fore wing a short line of the same colour crossing the cell near apex and a discal line from costa to vein 2, and on the hind wing a large ochraceous postdiscal ocellus in interspace 2 and another in interspace 6. Antennae brown ; head, thorax and abdomen dark brown. Sex-marks a patch of specialized scales in cell, extending into interspaces 1 and 2, and a glandular fold near base of vein with a stifle brush of hairs beneath it.
Female has the upperside umber-brown. Fore wing with a band as in the male, but bright yellow, narrower, reaching to the tornus, its inner margin very irregularly zigzag and sinuous, a spot below it in the middle. Hind wing uniform, apex bright yellow. Underside as in the male, but the ground-colour paler.[3]
Cited references
References
- Bingham, C.T. (1905):The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Lepidoptera, Volume 1
- Evans, W.H. (1932): The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed). Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
- Haribal, Meena (1992): Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History. Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation, Gangtok, Sikkim.
- Savela, Markku (2007): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms: Amathuxidia. Version of 2005-AUG-24. Retrieved 2007-SEP-08.
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957): Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.