Polyura arja
| Pallid nawab | |
|---|---|
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| Dorsal view | |
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| Ventral view | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Polyura |
| Species: | P. arja |
| Binomial name | |
| Polyura arja | |
| Synonyms | |
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Polyura arja, the pallid nawab, is a butterfly belonging to the rajahs and nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae subfamily of the brush-footed butterflies family.
Subspecies
- Polyura arja arja[2]
Description
Polyura arja has a wingspan of 75–80 millimetres (3.0–3.1 in). The outer edge of the forewings is concave and the hindwings show two short blue tails. The upperside of the wings is brown with a broad white or anteriorly pale green band from the inner edge of the forewing to the costal edge of the hindwings, one or two small white spots at the apex of the forewings and a continuous row of white or pale yellow spots running along the outer submargin of the hindwings. The underside of the wings is lighter brown with a quite similar pattern. The body is dark brown.[3]
Seitz -E. arja is an exclusively continental species of pronounced seasonal dimorphism, distinguished from E. athamas by the peculiar pale greenish white discal blotches on the upper surface. Underneath the black submarginal striae are surrounded by a broader, pale greyish-white shade. The transcellular spot on the forewings always larger. — vernus R.and J. (134 a) refers to the extreme dry-season form, in which the pale colouring prevails, whereas roeberi Fruhst. (134 a) designates the larger-sized, extreme rainy-season form with broadly black border. — arja Fldr., the commonest (intermediate) form, with the median area broader than in roeberi. The latter I [Hans Fruhstorfer]] only know from Assam, whereas vernus and arja are found from Sikkim to Tenasserim. May till October, according to Niceville throughout the year in the hot valleys. I myself took several specimens at Chiem-Hoa (Tonkin) in August. Recently I also saw some small-sized specimens from Petjaburi (Siam).[4]
Distribution
This species can be found in north-east India (Sikkim to Assam), Burma, Thailand and Indochina.[1]
See also
Bibliography
- Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
References
- ^ a b "Polyura Billberg, 1820" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- ^ Yutaka
- ^ "Taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Polyura"
- ^ Hans Fruhstorfer in Seitz ed. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde, Verlag Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.