''Neptis columella'', the short banded sailer, is a species of

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 redu ...

butterfly found in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and Southeast Asia.

Description

Upperside black, with white markings. Forewing: discoidal streak widening towards apex, notched pre-apically on the anterior margin and obliquely truncate at apex; spot beyond large, broadly triangular, well separated; discal spots in pairs varying in size, spot of this series in interspace 1 always an elongate; spots in transverse postdiscal series obscure, not all well defined, margined on both sides with deeper black than that of the ground colour; the space between the series and the discal spots and also the terminal margin beyond it with obscure transverse pale markings. Hindwing: costal margin broadly greyish brown; subbasal band not extending to the costa, of varying width; discal and subterminal pale transverse lines, the space between them darker than the ground colour, traversed by a prominent series of postdiscal spots of varying size. Cilia white alternating with black. Underside ferruginous brown; white markings as on the upperside but broader; the pale markings between the discal and postdiscal series of spots, the subterminal markings on the upperside of the forewing, and the discal and subterminal pale lines on the upperside of the hindwing represented by pale lunular transverse whitish markings. The costal margin of the hindwing above vein 8 very broad, especially in the female. Antennae dark brown to black; head, thorax and abdomen dark brownish black; beneath white.

Distribution

Western and southern India, recorded from Our Panjal range Nowshera , Rajouri Jammu and Kashmir UT Mahabaleshwar near Mumbai, and the Nilgiris; Sikkim, Bhutan, through the hills of Assam,

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 C. Wells, Joh ...

and Tenasserim to the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

, Thailand and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Gallery

Image:Short-banded_Sailer_(Neptis_columella)_on_a_Chalta_(Dillenia_indica)_leaf_in_Kolkata_W_IMG_3620.jpg, On a chalta ('' Dillenia indica'') leaf in Kolkata, West Bengal, India Image:Short-banded_Sailer_(Neptis_columella)_in_Kolkata_W_IMG_3736.jpg, In Kolkata, West Bengal

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6995433 columella Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Singapore Butterflies of Indochina Taxa named by Pieter Cramer Butterflies described in 1780