Poritia erycinoides

Poritia erycinoides, the blue gem,[1] is a small butterfly found in India, Myanmar[2] and parts of South-East Asia[3] that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

Blue gem
Upperside left, underside right, from Seitz
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Poritia
Species:
P. erycinoides
Binomial name
Poritia erycinoides
(C. Felder, 1865)

Range

It ranges along the Himalayas from Assam in India to northern Myanmar and south to the Shan States and southern Myanmar.[2][4] As per Savela, the butterfly ranges from Assam, Burma, Malaya, Langkawi, Tioman Islands, Borneo, Java and Thailand.[3]

Status

Not rare as per William Harry Evans.[2] Rare as per Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth.[4]

Description

A small butterfly, 26 to 36 mm in wingspan. The basal half or more of the cell in upper forewing is blue, with blue spots present in the apex and termen. Females: The upper forewing has a yellow discal patch above the blue area. The upper hindwing blue area is small and reduced to discal quadrate spots in 3 and 4. The females resemble those of the common gem (P. hewitsoni) but with yellow spots on the upper hindwing. The males of the blue gem are bluer than the common gem which is greener.[4]

Taxonomy

Five subspecies of the butterfly have been described:[3]-

  • P. e. erycinoides C. Felder, 1865 Java[3]
  • P. e. elsiei Evans, 1925 Assam, northern Myanmar,[2] Burma, northern Thailand[3]
  • P. e. phraatica Hewitson, 1878 southern Shan States - southern Myanmar,[2] Thailand, Peninsular Malaya, Langkawi, Tioman Islands[3]
  • P. e. trishna Fruhstorfer, 1919 Assam, ?Nepal, ?Sikkim[3]
  • P. e. phaluke Druce, 1895 Borneo[3]
P. e. phaluke

See also

Cited references
  1. Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Poritia erycinoides". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  2. Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. pp. 208–209, ser no H2.7.
  3. "Poritia Moore, [1866]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms
  4. Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 252. ISBN 978-8170192329.

References

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