Jamides alecto explained
Jamides alecto, the metallic cerulean, is a small species of butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm[1] but which crosses the Wallace line into the Australasian realm (Celebes). It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.[2]
Description
Charles Swinhoe described the subspecies J. a. alocina on 1915 as follows:"Upperside milky white tinged with pale lavender-blue, the inner surface of the fore wing and the upper half of the hind wing palest: fore wing with a fine grey costal line; a grey marginal narrow band: hind wing with a submarginal series of small and short black lunular marks, edged with white on both sides, and a fine black marginal line. Under-side pale pinkish grey, markings white but indistinct: fore wing with two lines across the end of the cell, continued to the hinder margin beyond its middle, two dislocated lines beyond in the fourth, fifth, and sixth interspaces, with a line in the third interspace from between the last two; two rows of submarginal lines and an indistinct marginal line, all three dislocated by the veins: hind wing with three rows of transverse double lines at equal distances apart, and a marginal series, all dislocated by the veins ; a brownish spot touched with red near the anal angle."[3]
Subspecies
- J. a. alecto Moluccas
- J. a. kondulana (Felder, 1862) Nicobars
- J. a. latimargus (Snellen, 1878) Sulawesi
- J. a. elpidion (Doherty, 1891) Enggano
- J. a. mentawica (Hagen, 1902) Mentawai
- J. a. dromicus (Fruhstorfer, 1910) Taiwan
- J. a. alocina Swinhoe, 1915 Sri Lanka, South India - Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, S.China, Malay Peninsula
- J. a. espada (Fruhstorfer, 1916) Sulawesi
- J. a. eurysaces (Fruhstorfer, 1916) North India, Assam - Thailand
- J. a. meilichius (Fruhstorfer, 1916) Ceylon
- J. a. thanetus (Fruhstorfer, 1916) Nias
- J. a. ozea (Fruhstorfer, 1916) Sikkim
- J. a. ageladas (Fruhstorfer, 1916) Sumatra
- J. a. alvenus (Fruhstorfer, 1916) Selajar
- J. a. horsfieldi (Toxopeus, 1929) Java
- J. a. simalurana (Toxopeus, 1930) Simalue
- J. a. luniger (Toxopeus, 1930) Sulawesi
- J. a. manilana (Toxopeus, 1930) Philippines
- J. a. fusca Evans, 1932 Andamans
- J. a. kawazoei Hayashi, [1977] Palawan
The larva feeds on Elettaria cardamomum, Hevea,Pueraria, Alpinia, Boesenbergia, Curcuma, Elettaria, Hedychium, Kaempferia and Zingiber attended by ants.
See also
References
- Book: Evans . W. H. . William Harry Evans . The Identification of Indian Butterflies . 2nd . Mumbai, India . . 1932.
- Book: Gaonkar, Harish . Harish Gaonkar . Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a Threatened Mountain System . Centre for Ecological Sciences . Bangalore, India . 1996.
- Book: Gay . Thomas . Kehimkar . Isaac David . Punetha . Jagdish Chandra . Common Butterflies of India . Nature Guides . World Wide Fund for Nature-India by Oxford University Press . Bombay, India . 1992 . 978-0195631647.
- Book: Haribal, Meena . The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History . Gangtok, Sikkim, India . Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation . 1992.
- Book: Kunte, Krushnamegh . Butterflies of Peninsular India . India, A Lifescape . Hyderabad, India . Universities Press . 2000 . 978-8173713545.
- Book: Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander . Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth . Butterflies of the Indian Region . 1957 . Bombay, India . . 978-8170192329.
External links
- Web site: Takanami . Yusuke . Seki . Yasuo . amp . 2001 . Genus Jamides . A Synonymic List of Lycaenidae from the Philippines . https://web.archive.org/web/20010624053157/http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~EY4Y-TKNM/Jamides-Phil/Jamides-Phil.html . June 24, 2001 . Internet Archive. With images.
Notes and References
- Book: A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India . Varshney . R. K. . Smetacek. Peter. Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing . 2015. 978-81-929826-4-9. New Delhi. 132. 10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164.
- Web site: Savela . Markku . Jamides alecto (Felder, 1860) . Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms . July 2, 2018.
- Swinhoe. Charles Swinhoe. New Species of Indo-Malayan Lepidoptera. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 1915. 8. 16. 175. 9 May 2018.