''Cigaritis vulcanus'', the common silverline, is a species of

lycaenid Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

or blue butterfly found in Asia. It was first described by

Johan Christian Fabricius Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is cons ...

in 1775.

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 26–34 mm. Spindasis vulcanus Fabricius Mating

Subspecies

The subspecies of ''Cigaritis vulcanus'' are- * ''Spindasis vulcanus vulcanus'' Fabricius, 1775 – India * ''Spindasis vulcanus fusca'' (Moore,

881 __NOTOC__ Year 881 ( DCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 12 – King Charles the Fat, the third son of the late Louis the German, is crowned as Holy Roman Emper ...

– Sri Lanka * ''Spindasis vulcanus javanus'' (Fruhstorfer, 1912) – Java * ''Spindasis vulcanus tavoyana'' (Evans,

925 Year 925 ( CMXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * May 15 – Nicholas I Mystikos, twice the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantin ...

– Myanmar, Thailand

Distribution

These butterflies are found in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, central

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. In India, the species has been spotted in the territories of Maharashtra, Orissa, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. And in Vietnam, this species has only been recorded in Bình Phước province (Monastyrskii, 2003).

Habitat

Their numbers peak during the south-west and north-east monsoons. It inhabits scrub land with sparse vegetation, hedge rows, scrub jungles and secondary forest.

Habits

They are difficult to disturb when nectaring on flowers but are able to fly fast erratically. Even when disturbed they return to the same spot a moment later. Mainly, they are found near their host plants.

Food plants

The larvae feed on jujube, ''

Zizyphus rugosa ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of about 40 species of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, distributed in the warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of the world. The leaves are alternate, entire, with three promi ...

'', '' Ixora longifolia'', '' Clerodendrum siphomanthus'', '' C. inerme'', ''

Allophylus cobbe ''Allophylus cobbe'', commonly known as titberry or Indian allophylus, is a pantropical, shrub in the family Sapindaceae with many uses in traditional medicine. It has a highly variable morphology throughout its range and may prove to be more t ...

'', ''

Ixora chinensis ''Ixora chinensis'', commonly known as Chinese ixora, is a species of plant of the genus ''Ixora''. Synonyms The Catalogue of Life regonises the following synonyms: References https://biofertilize.com/ixora-chinensis/ External links

* ...

'' and ''

Canthium parviflorum ''Canthium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny. Distribution ''Canthium'' species are predominantly found in Southeast Asia, espec ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3206185 Cigaritis Fauna of Pakistan Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1775