Thermozephyrus

Thermozephyrus ataxus, the wonderful hairstreak,[1] is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

Female

Wonderful hairstreak
Specimen from Japan
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Thermozephyrus Inomata & Itagaki, 1986
Species:	T ataxus
Binomial name
Thermozephyrus ataxus (Westwood, 1851)
Synonyms
Dipsas ataxus Westwood, 1851 Thecla ataxus Dipsas katura Hewitson, 1865 Zephyrus zulla Tytler, 1915 Zephyrus ataxus var. kirishimaensis Okajima, 1922 Chrysozephyrus lingi Okano & Okura, 1969 Chrysozephyrus subnivalis Kawazoe & Wakabayashi, 1969 Chrysozephyrus ataxus Westwood, [1851]

Taxonomy

The butterfly was previously classified as Thecla ataxus Doubleday.[2] It is also presently classified as Chrysozephyrus ataxus.[3]

Range

The species occurs in Murree (Pakistan), and in India from Jammu and Kashmir to Kumaon and in the Naga Hills.[2] In general, the range extends from the western Himalayas to China and Japan.[4]

Subspecies

• Thermozephyrus ataxus ataxus (north-western India to Upper Burma)
• Thermozephyrus ataxus kirishimaensis (Okajima, 1922) (Japan)
• Thermozephyrus ataxus lingi (Okano & Okura, 1969) (Taiwan)
• Thermozephyrus ataxus motohiroi (Fujioka, 2001)
• Thermozephyrus ataxus yakushimaensis (Yazaki, 1924) (Japan)
• Thermozephyrus ataxus tsukiyamai (Fujioka, 2001) (Myanmar)
• Thermozephyrus ataxus zulla (Tytler, 1915) (Assam, western China)

Cited references

1. Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Chrysozephyrus ataxus". 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. p. 250, ser no H41.4.
3. Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera Page on genus Chrysozephyrus.
4. Thermozephyrus at funet

See also

• Lycaenidae
• List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)

References

• Beccaloni, George; Scoble, Malcolm; Kitching, Ian; Simonsen, Thomas; Robinson, Gaden; Pitkin, Brian; Hine, Adrian; Lyal, Chris. "The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex)". Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
• Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
• Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
• "Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera".
• Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.