''Kaniska canace'', the blue admiral, is a

nymphalid The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

butterfly, the only species of the genus ''Kaniska''. It is found in south and

southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

Subspecies

Subspecies are: * ''K. c. canace'' (Linnaeus, 1763) (

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, southern China,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

) * ''K. c. battakana'' (de Nicéville, 1896) ( Sumatra) * ''K. c. benguetana'' (Semper, 1888) (

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

) * ''K. c. charonia'' (Drury, 1770) * ''K. c. charonides'' (Stichel,

908 __NOTOC__ Year 908 ( CMVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * May 15 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor L ...

(

Ussuri River The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the S ...

) * ''K. c. drilon'' (Fruhstorfer, 1912) (

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

) * ''K. c. haronica'' (Moore, 1879) ( Sri Lanka) * ''K. c. ishima'' (Fruhstorfer, 1899) (Japan) * ''K. c. javanica'' (Fruhstorfer, 1912) (

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 mos ...

, ? Bali, ?

Lombok Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is ...

) * ''K. c. maniliana'' (Fruhstorfer, 1912) (

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

, ?

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

) * ''K. c. muscosa'' (Tsukada & Nishiyama, 1979) ( Sulawesi) * ''K. c. nojaponicum'' (von Siebold, 1824) ( Japan) * ''K. c. perakana'' (Distant, 1886) (?

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 b ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

) * ''K. c. viridis'' Evans, 1924 south India

Description

Adult

''Kaniska canace'' has a wingspan of about . The upperside of forewings and hindwings is black, while the underside is black and brown. Also the body is completely black. Forewings have a blue band at the wavy outer edge, a blue or white spot at the wing leading edge and a little white spot in the wing tip. Hindwings show a wide blue transversal band, with a row a small black spots and a narrow blue band at the outer very wavy edge. Frederic Moore wrote in 1899: File: Nymphalidae - Kaniska canace perakana.JPG, Upperside of ''K. c. perakana'' from Borneo File: Nymphalidae - Kaniska canace perakana-001.JPG, Underside of ''K. c. perakana'' File:Blueadmiral Kaniska canace garo hills.jpg, Upperside of Indian subspecies File:Blue admiral un.jpg, Underside of Indian subspecies File:Ruritateha_06f1628sv.jpg, Upperside of Japanese subspecies File:Kaniska_canace_no-japonicum_underside.jpg, Underside of Japanese subspecies File:Kaniska canace Vietnam.jpg, Upperside from Vietnam

Larva

Subspecies ''K. c. canace'' "Segments alternately orange and white, with numerous black spots on the orange segments and black streaks on the white; seven white, branching, black-tipped spines on each orange segment." Subspecies ''K. c. haronica'' "Light red; spotted with black, the segments divided by blackish and purple lines; anal segment slightly humped; segments armed with eight longitudinal rows of yellow branched spines; head and legs black. Feeds on Smilax." (Moore, 1899)

Pupa

Subspecies ''K. c. canace'' "Variegated reddish brown, with frontal gold and silver spots; head produced and bifid." Subspecies ''K. c. haronica'' "Reddish brown; abdominal segment with two dorsal rows of small reddish pointed tubercles; thorax angular; headpiece he is a good emperor produced and bifid." (Moore, 1899)

Biology

Larvae grow on various

Smilacaceae Smilacaceae, the greenbriers, is a family of flowering plants. While they were often assigned to a more broadly defined family Liliaceae, most recent botanists have accepted the two as distinct families, diverging around 55 million years ago dur ...

species (''

Smilax aspericaulis ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...

'', '' Smilax zeylanica (in India)'', ''

Smilax bracteata ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...

'', '' Smilax china'', ''

Smilax lanceifolia ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are Endemism, endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing ...

'', '' Smilax perfoliata'', ''

Smilax riparia ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...

'', ''

Smilax sebeana ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are Endemism, endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing ...

'', ''

Smilax sieboldii ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...

'', '' Heterosmilax japonica'') and

Convallariaceae Nolinoideae is a monocot subfamily of the family Asparagaceae in the APG III system of 2009. It used to be treated as a separate family, Ruscaceae s.l. The family name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, ''Nolina''. The subfam ...

species ('' Streptopus amplexifolius'', '' Tricyrtis hirta'') and

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair a ...

(''

Lilium lancifolium ''Lilium lancifolium'' (syn. ''L. tigrinum'') is an Asian species of lily, native to China, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East. It is widely planted as an ornamental because of its showy orange-and-black flowers, and sporadically occurs as ...

'').

Habits

This species is highly territorial and will chase butterflies that move into its territory. It uses well defined perches and will bask with wings open but often sits with half-open wings.

Distribution

This very widespread species can be found as far north as southeastern Siberia, east to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, Japan and

, west to

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 ...

and south to Sri Lanka,

and parts of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, with a number of well marked geographic races.

References

External link

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1768138 Nymphalini Fauna of Pakistan Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1763 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus