- Byblia ilithyia
Taxobox
name = Joker
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Arthropod a
classis =Insect a
ordo =Lepidoptera
familia = Nymphalidae
subfamilia =Biblidinae
genus = "Byblia "
species = "B. ilithyia"
binomial = "Byblia ilithyia"
binomial_authority = (Drury, 1773)
synonyms =The Joker "Byblia ilithyia" is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in
Asia .Description
Wet-season form. Male upperside deep rich orange. Fore wing; costa broadly jet-black to within a short distance of the apex ;cell crossed by three narrow short black bands, the inner and the outer not reaching the median vein ; a very irregular black discal blotch from dorsum to vein 4, continued very narrowly along that vein to meet an oblique irregular band from just beyond the middle of the costa ; a postdiscal broad transverse black band from dorsum to vein 4, with the portions of the veins beyond it defined in black. The apex of the wing beyond the broad black edging to the costal border has its upper margin and the terminal portions of the veins defined in black; finally a narrow terminal band. Hind wing: an elongate black subcostal patch near base, continued posteriorly across the cell by an inner and an outer series of small transverse spots; a complete broad black postdiscal band with the portions of the veins beyond it lined with black, and a narrow black terminal band as on the fore wing. Cilia of fore and hind wings white, alternated with brown. Underside paler duller orange. Fore wing: black markings as on the upperside, but the cell and upper discal markings obscurely margined on the inner side by white; an oblique black line from costa to apex of postdiscal transverse band, followed by an oblique preapical series of diffuse white spots, the terminal black band as on the upperside but traversed by a broken white line. Hind wing: a subbasal and a discal broad, transverse white band, both bordered inwardly by a series of black spots, and outwardly by a broad black line; a somewhat narrower postdiscal transverse black band traversed by a series of paired white spots, followed by a row of cone-shaped markings of the ground-colour, the apices of the cones turned inwards and broadly white ; finally, a black terminal band traversed by a series of white lunules. Antennae black; head, thorax and abdomen dark dusky fulvous red ; beneath, palpi white, head, thorax and abdomen dark ochraceous, variegated with some black and white lines and spots.
Female similar, with similar markings, but on the upperside the ground-colour is paler, the black markings narrower. Fore wing: the postdiscal black band nearly complete, interrupted only in interspaces 1 and 4; the terminal black band traversed by a broken white line. Hind wing: no subcostal black patch, instead three series of transverse spots; a postdiscal transverse broad black band bordered inwardly by a series of slender black loops, between these and the postdiscal band a series of spots of the ground-colour; the terminal black band traversed as on the fore wing by a whitish broken line. Underside similar to that in the male, but the ground-colour paler. On the fore wing the black markings comparatively narrower, less well-defined ; on the hind wing the white on the bands and spots replaced by pale yellow.Bingham, C. T. 1905. Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Vol. 1]
Dry-season form. Males and females. Upperside similar to that in the wet-season form, black markings on the whole not so sharply defined. Underside: ground-colour darker, on the hind wing a dark ochraceous; the transverse subbasal and discal bands in both sexes white.
Expanse: 50-56 mm
Distribution
Central and Southern India; Ceylon.
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
