- Celastrina melaena
-
Metallic Hedge Blue 
Museum specimen. Malaya. Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Lycaenidae Genus: Celastrina Species: C. melaena Binomial name Celastrina melaena
(Doherty, 1889)Synonyms - Cyaniris melaena Doherty, 1889
- Callenya melaena (Doherty, 1889)
- Lycaenopsis melaena (Doherty, 1889)
- Cyaniris melaenoides Tytler, 1915
- Lycaenopsis minima Evans, 1932
The Metallic Hedge Blue (Celastrina melaena)[1] is a small butterfly found in India[2] that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.
Contents
Description
Male upperside: deep brown. Fore wing: with the basal half dark blue, dull in certain lights, rich, shining and iridescent in others; this colour does not reach the costa, apex or termen where the ground-colour forms a broad border to the blue. Hind wing: uniform brown; in certain lights iridescent blue over the basal third, but the blue does not reach either the costa or the dorsum. Underside; dull greyish-white. Fore wing: with the following fuscous-brown markings:—a short transverse line on the discoccllulars; a postdiscal transverse series of elongate spots or extremely short bars, the posterior three placed slightly m echelon, the one nearest the costa shifted well inwards; beyond this a transverse unbroken line, a subterminal series of small spots and an anticiliary dark line; costal margin somewhat broadly shaded with very pale brownish-grey. Hind wing: a minute spot on dorsum near base of wing, a series of three subbasal spots placed obliquely across the wing and beyond them a much larger round subcostal spot in interspace 7, black; a short dusky brown line on the discocellulars, a brown spot above it in base of interspace 6; a transverse posterior discal series of five spots also brown, the upper four in a slight curve, the lowest shifted outwards out of lino with the others; lastly, terminal transverse markings muoh as on the fore wing, only the fuscous brown Hue on the inner side of the subterminal series of spots replaced by a series of connected slender lunules. Cilia of fore and hind wings grey. Antenna), head, thorax and abdomen dark brown, the antennco ringed with white; beneath: palpi, thorax and abdomen greyish white.[3]
Taxonomy
The butterfly was earlier known as Lycaenopsis melaena (Rhe Phil).[2]
Range
It is found from Assam to Manipur in India.[2]
Subspecies
- Callenya melaena melaena (Manipur, Burma, northern Thailand, Laos)
- Callenya melaena shonen (Taiwan)
Cited references
See also
References
- Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/lepindex [accessed 14 October 2006].
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
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