Stichophthalma nourmahal

Stichophthalma nourmahal
Chocolate Jungle Queen
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Stichophthalma
Species: S. nourmahal
Binomial name
Stichophthalma nourmahal
(Westwood, 1851)

The Chocolate Jungle Queen Stichophthalma nourmahal (Westwood, 1851)[1] is a butterfly found in South Asia that belongs to the Morphinae sub family of the Brush-footed butterflies family.

Contents

Distribution

The Chocolate Jungle Queen ranges from Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland in India and also in Bhutan.[1][2]

Status

Evans and Haribal report the butterfly as Rare over its range.[2][3]

Description

See glossary for terms used

Male upperside bright chocolate-brown. Fore wing with a very broad, curved, oblique preapical band from costa to termen; apex and the termen narrowly dark brown ; a subterminal series of delicate, brown, trident-shaped marks. Hind wing with a band along the terminal margin yellow, bearing paired, lunular, brown marks in the interspaces. Underside dark ochraceous, paler towards the apex of the fore wing, with the following transverse markings—subbasal and median dark brown sinuous lines, bordered, the former on the inside, the latter on the outside, by narrow bands of greenish blue ; a discal series of obscure ocelli, some of them denned only as pale spots; a postdiscal and a subterminal dark highly-sinuous line, the former ending in a black tornal spot outwardly margined with pink. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen chocolate-brown above, ochraceous beneath.

Female upperside is similar, a preapical white spot on fore wing. Underside with the transverse markings similar; the groundcolour up to the median black transverse line chocolate-brown; beyond, the fore wing from costa to vein 4 light ochraceous, inwardly paling to white below vein 1 ; the hind wing crossed by a diffuse dark brown band; ocelli as in the male, followed by a dull ochraceous-brown postdiscal area, the terminal margins broadly brown, inwardly defined and crossed subterminally by highly sinuous dark lines. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male.[4]

Cited references

  1. ^ a b Marrku Savela's Website on Lepidoptera Page on Sticophthalma genus.
  2. ^ a b Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies, pg 132-133.
  3. ^ Haribal, Meena (1994) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History. Pg 128.
  4. ^ Bingham, C. T. 1905. Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Vol. 1

References

  • Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed). Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
  • Haribal, Meena (1992) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History. Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation. Gangtok, Sikkim.
  • Marrku Savela's Website on Lepidoptera [1].
  • Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.

See also


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