Tajuria maculata explained

Tajuria maculata, the spotted royal, is a species of lycaenid or blue butterfly found in Asia.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Distribution

Initially thought to be occurring in Sikkim to Peninsular Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra.^[2] Though there was a single specimen record of T. maculata from south India with the de Nicéville collection, that Stokes Roberts took from the Nilgiris district, northwestern Tamil Nadu, southern Western Ghats (Yates 1935), it was confirmed only in 2011 by V.K. Sarkar et al.^[4] This rare butterfly was sighted again in the Nilgiris nearly a century over.^[5]

In May 2013, naturalists found eggs and caterpillars of this butterfly in Lakkidy, Wayanad, Keralam. They successfully recorded the complete lifecycle, the first time in India.^{[6] [7]}

Description

In 1865, William Chapman Hewitson described this butterfly as:

Life history

The larvae feed on Dendrophthoe spp., Loranthus spp. and Viscum spp.^[8]

See also

• List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)

Notes and References

1. http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/theclinae/tajuria/ "Tajuria Moore, [1881]"] at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. Book: Varshney. R.. Smetacek. P.. A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India.. Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal and Indinov Publishing. New Delhi. 116. 2015.
3. Web site: Tajuria maculata (Hewitson,[1865])]. Inayoshi. Yutaka. Butterflies in Indo-China. 2018-04-15.
4. Sarkar. V.K.. D.S.. Das. V.C.. Balakrishnan. Kunte. K.. Validation of the reported occurrence of Tajuria maculata, the Spotted Royal butterfly (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), in the Western Ghats, southwestern India, on the basis of two new records.. Journal of Threatened Taxa . 3 . 1629–1632. 26 March 2011. 3. 14 April 2018. 10.11609/jott.o2645.1629-32. free.
5. News: Rare Spotted Royal recorded in the Nilgiris after more than a century. The Hindu. 13 March 2022. Premkumar. Rohan.
6. Web site: https://www.facebook.com/manoramaonline . പൊട്ടുവെള്ളാംബരി ചിത്രശലഭത്തിന്റെ പൂർണ ജീവിതചക്രം രേഖപ്പെടുത്തി . 2023-05-22 . ManoramaOnline . ml.
7. News: 2023-05-22 . Life cycle of rare Spotted Royal butterfly documented for the first time in India . en-IN . The Hindu . 2023-05-23 . 0971-751X.
8. 2018-04-10. Larval host plants of the buterfies of the Western Ghats, India. Ravikanthachari Nitin. V.C. Balakrishnan. Paresh V. Churi. S. Kalesh. Satya Prakash. Krushnamegh Kunte. Journal of Threatened Taxa. 10. 4. 11502. 10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550. free.