Abisara fylla
Abisara fylla, the dark Judy, is a small but striking butterfly found in India that belongs to the Punches and Judies, that is the family Riodinidae.
Dark Judy | |
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Male A. f. fylla | |
Female both found in Godawari, Nepal | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Riodinidae |
Genus: | Abisara |
Species: | A. fylla |
Binomial name | |
Abisara fylla (Westwood, 1851) | |
Description
From Charles Thomas Bingham (1905) The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma, Butterflies Vol. 1:
Male upperside rich dark brown. Forewing with a cream-coloured even band from middle of costa to tornus, "bent slightly inwards at each end; a subterminal transverse, very obscure, pale fascia ending anteriorly in a white dot and two subapical white dots. Hindwing: postdiscal and subterminal very obscure pale transversa fasciae; the latter with a superposed series of seven oval black spots each with a white dot on the outer margin and inwardly pale-edged; the preapical two and posterior two of these spots only clearly defined, the others obsolescent, the preapieal two the larger. Underside duller brown; the markings as on the upperside; the hindwing with indications of a sub-basal pale fascia in addition to the others. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen dark brown; beneath the palpi, thorax and abdomen paler; antenna with a white dot at apex.
Female. Similar; the termen of the hindwing more distinctly but very broadly angulated outwards in the middle. Upperside: the ground colour paler duller brown, the oblique band on the forewing pure white, not cream-coloured; six (not seven) black spots in the subterminal series on the hindwing, the spots larger and more clearly defined than in the male. Underside: ground colour paler than on the upperside: markings similar; no trace of a subbasal band on the hindwing, the middle two spots of the subterminai series more or less obsolescent. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen concolorous with the ground colour of the wings, a white spot at apex of the antennae; beneath, the palpi, thorax and abdomen paler, marked with white.
- Expanse: 52–62 mm
- Habitat: The Himalayas. Mussoorie to Sikkim; the hills of Assam, Burma and Tennaserim.
References
- Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.