''Poritia phalena'', the broad-banded brilliant, is a small butterfly found in

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-East 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 mainland ...

that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by

William Chapman Hewitson William Chapman Hewitson (9 January 1806, in Newcastle upon Tyne – 28 May 1878, in Oatlands Park, Surrey) was a British naturalist. A wealthy collector, Hewitson was particularly devoted to Coleoptera (beetles) and Lepidoptera (butterflies ...

in 1874.

Range

It occurs in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

from

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

to southern

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 ...

. As per Markku Savela, the butterfly ranges from Assam, Myanmar, Peninsular Malaya, Java, Nias, Borneo and Thailand.

Status

Very rare.

Description

It is a small butterfly with a 28 to 34 mm wingspan. The male is black above with brilliant greenish-blue streaks and spots, while the female is dark brown above with a white circular spot in the discal region of the forewing. Below, there are no bands of linked spots.

Taxonomy

The butterfly was earlier and continues to be classified by some authorities as ''Simiskina phalena'' (Hewitson, 1874). The

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

that occur in South Asia are: * ''P. p. harterti'' Doherty 1889 –

to southern

, very rare * '' P. p. hayashii'' (Schröder & Treadaway, 1979) * ''P. p. howarthi'' (H. Hayashi, 1976) * ''P. p. ilagana'' Osada & Hashimoto,

987 Year 987 ( CMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * February 7 – Bardas Phokas (the Younger) and Bardas Skleros, two membe ...

/small> * ''P. p. javanica'' Fruhstorfer – Java * ''P. p. niasina'' Fruhstorfer – Nias

Cited references

References

External links

* With images. Poritia Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Borneo Taxa named by William Chapman Hewitson Butterflies described in 1874 {{Poritiinae-stub