Allotinus multistrigatus

Taxobox
name = Great Darkie


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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
superfamilia = Papilionoidea
familia = Lycaenidae
genus = "Allotinus"
species = "A. multistrigatus"
binomial = "Allotinus multistrigatus"
binomial_authority = de Nicéville, 1886

The Great Darkie ("Allotinus multistrigatus") [http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/projects/lepindex/detail.dsml?UserID=&UserName=&TaxonNo=194166.0&SCIENTIFIC_NAME_on_card=multistrigatus&listPageURL=list%2edsml%3fsort%3dSCIENTIFIC%255fNAME%255fon%255fcard%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcardqtype%3dstarts%2bwith%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcard%3dsubviolaceus%26recLimit%3d30&searchPageURL=index%2edsml%3fSCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcardqtype%3dstarts%2bwith%26sort%3dSCIENTIFIC%255fNAME%255fon%255fcard%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcard%3dsubviolaceus%26recLimit%3d30 Card for species "multistrigatus" in LepIndex. Accessed 23 March 2007.] ] is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.

Description

Male upperside: dark brown. Fore wing: a broad, medial, pale curved patch. Hind wing: immaculate. Underside: paler, duller brown; markings on both fore and hind wings a darker brown, nearly all very slenderly encircled or edged with dull white. Fore wing: anterior half very closely, the lower disc more sparsely sprinkled with dark brown spots and specks that vary very much in size 5 cell with a basal, a medial and an apical short transverse dark brown band; a postdiscal similar but more irregular band made up of detached spots; the dorsal margin broadly paler and nearly free of the dark brown specks and spots; finally a terminal obscure series of dark brown lunules. Hind wing: minute dark brown specks and spots similar to those on the fore wing, three basal detached spots in transverse row; a medial macular dark brown band that crosses the cell and is continued to the dorsum; a large dark brown spot at apex of cell with a similar spot above that touches the costa, and another below it at base of interspace 3; a broad, curved, macular, discal dark brown band, its uppermost spot well-detached, the others confluent; lastly the terinen shaded with dark brown. Antenna), head, thorax and abdomen dark brown ; beneath : the palpi, thorax and abdomen paler.

Female differs from the male as follows:—Upperside, forewing: a conspicuous broad, very oblique medial band that consists of a large, white, somewhat irregularly-shaped spot beyond apex of cell and two spots placed obliquely outwards "en echelon" below it. Underside: the dark brown markings on the pale brown ground-colour similar in shape and character but far more clearly defined and prominent, the slender white edgings to the minute spots and specks very conspicuous. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male.Bingham, C. T. 1907. Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2]

Taxonomy

This species is considered in Marrku Savela's site as conspecific with "Allotinus drumila" correctly "Miletographa drumila" [http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/miletinae/allotinus/index.html Page on Marrku Savela's site for genus Allotinus (Lycaenidae).] ] .

References

ee also

*Lycaenidae
*List of butterflies of India
*List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)

External links