Polyommatus loewii

Large jewel blue
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Polyommatus
Species:	P. melampus
Binomial name
Polyommatus loewii (Zeller, 1847)[1]
Synonyms
Albulina loewii (Zeller, 1847) Lycaena loewii Zeller, 1847 Polyommatus (Albulina) loewii Polyommatus loewii Albulina empyrea (Freyer, [1851]) Lycaena loewi var. gigas Staudinger, 1871 Albulina robusta (Turati & Fiori, 1930) Lycaena löwii germaniciae Pfeiffer, 1932 Albulina minimus (Junge & Rose, 1978) Polyommatus loewii afghana Howarth & Povolny, 1976 Polyommatus loewii antilibanotica Hemming, 1929 Lampides uranicola Walker, 1870 Polyommatus loewi lockharti Hemming, 1929 Lampides ferrana Walker, 1870 Lycaena hissarica Shchetkin, 1963

Polyommatus loewii, the large jewel blue,^[2][3] is a species of blue (Lycaenidae) butterfly found in South East Asia.

Agrodiaetus loewii uranicola mating from United Arab Emirates

Range

The butterfly occurs in Sri Lanka and in India from South India to Orissa, and, in the north from Murree to Kumaon.^[4] The range extends to Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Java.^[2]

Subspecies

• P. l. loewii (Armenia: highland)
• P. l. afghana (Howarth & Povolny, 1976) (Afghanistan)
• P. l. antilibanotica (Hemming, 1929)
• P. l. dzhemagati (Sheljuzhko, 1934) (Caucasus Major)
• P. l. hissarica (Shchetkin, 1963) (Ghissar)
• P. l. laura (Evans, 1932)
• P. l. schwingenschussi (Pfeiffer, 1937) (Talysh Mountains)
• P. l. uranicola (Walker, 1870) (Jordan, Egypt, the Sinai, the Negev, central Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman)

Status

William Harry Evans reported that the species was not rare.^[4]

See also

• List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)

Cited references

1. ↑ Polyommatus at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms
2. 1 2 Polyommatus at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms
3. ↑ Card for Polyommatus loewii in LepIndex. Accessed 14 June 2007.
4. 1 2 Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 299, ser no H85.16. 

References

• Beccaloni, George; Scoble, Malcolm; Kitching, Ian; Simonsen, Thomas; Robinson, Gaden; Pitkin, Brian; Hine, Adrian; Lyal, Chris. "The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex)". Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 2016-10-15. 
• Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. 
• Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation. 
• "Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera". 
• Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.