Arletta vardhana

Taxobox
name = Dusky Hedge Blue


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
superfamilia = Papilionoidea
familia = Lycaenidae
genus = "Arletta"
species = "A. vardhana"
binomial = "Arletta vardhana"
binomial_authority = (Moore, 1874)
synonyms = "Cyaniris vardhana" "Lycaenopsis vardhana" (Moore)

The Hampson's Hedge Blue ("Arletta vardhana") [http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/projects/lepindex/detail.dsml?TaxonNo=201905.0&UserID=&UserName=&&listPageURL=list%2edsml%3fSCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcardqtype%3dstarts%2bwith%26sort%3dSCIENTIFIC%255fNAME%255fon%255fcard%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcard%3dvardhana%26recLimit%3d30&searchPageURL=index%2edsml%3fsort%3dSCIENTIFIC%255fNAME%255fon%255fcard%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcardqtype%3dstarts%2bwith%26SCIENTIFIC%5fNAME%5fon%5fcard%3dvardhana%26recLimit%3d30 Card for species "vardhana" in LepIndex. Accessed 14 October 2006.] ] is a small butterfly found in Sri LankaEvans,W.H.(1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies, ser no H21.13, pp 221-226] that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.

Description

Male upperside fore wing: costa, apex and termen very broadly dusky black; at apex this colour occupies more than a third of the wing in some specimens, and in most is carried narrowly along the dorsal margin to the base; the remainder of the wing pale iridescent blue; the discocellulars marked by a jet-black, very prominent, short, posteriorly acute bar. Hind wing: costal margin broadly shaded with dusky black, the rest of the wing pale iridescent blue, the posterior veins black, very prominent. Underside : pearly-white, the bases of the wings slightly glossed with blue. Fore wing: a short broad line on the discocellulars, three upper discal spots placed obliquely beyond it, the anterior two mere minute dots and a postdiscal inwardly oblique series of three larger spots, all dark brown. Hind wing: uniform with a few minute dark brown spots, of which a basal spot in interspace 7 and another further outwards in the same interspace are the most conspicuous. Cilia of both fore and hind wings white. Antenna, head and thorax dark brown, the antennte as usual ringed with white; beneath: the palpi, thorax and abdomen white.Female very similar to the male, differs as follows:—Upperside, fore wing: the disc white, very faintly irrorated with iridescentBingham, C. T. 1907. Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2]

Taxonomy

The butterfly was earlier known as "Lycaenopsis vardhana" Moore.

Range

It is found in Sri Lanka.

Cited references

ee also

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

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