''Loxura atymnus'', the yamfly, 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 Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

."''Loxura'' Horsfield, [1829]"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Description

:::Eggs. Dome shaped, whitish in colour. Diameter: 0.92 (± 0.09) mm.Tanima Santra, Sudipta Mandal: ''Studies on the life history of Yamfly butterfly (Loxura atymnus Stoll, 1780) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)''
Bangabasi Academic Journal, Vol. 17, 2018, :::Caterpillar. :::First instar: the dorsal and dorsolateral sides of the caterpillars are greenish yellow in colour with hair like long setae present dorsally and sub-spiracularly, up to 2.98 (± 0.13) mm. :::Second instar: greenish yellow with two brownish dorsal bands mid dorsally. The long setae of the first instar larvae are absent in second instar. Anal plate with a prominent depression. The anterior end possessed a crescent shaped lip like swelling with a small groove on the head. Length up to of 6.66 (± 0.34) mm. :::Third instar: similar to that of second instar larvae except for greater size reaching a length of 9.7 (± 0.3) mm :::Fourth instar: initially similar to that of third instar. But gradually the dorsal bands become darker and wider up to 19.62 (± 0.28) mm :::Pupae: ::: pupae: attached to the leaf surface via its cremaster and a silk girdle to the silk pad. Size 13.61 (± 0.27) mm with a relatively long abdominal portion. Greenish with mid dorsal brown and whiteband of cryptic patterns. After about 7 days the pupae become darker in colour indicating their approach towards maturity. The pupal skin became transparent and the orange patches on the upperside of the forewings are visible through the transparent skin.

Subspecies

The subspecies of ''Loxura atymnus'' are: * ''Loxura atymnus atymnus'' Stoll, 1780 – south India * ''Loxura atymnus arcuata'' Moore, [1881] – Sri Lanka * ''Loxura atymnus continentalis'' Fruhstorfer, 1912 – northeast India, Indochina * ''Loxura atymnus prabha'' Moore, 1877 – Andamans * ''Loxura atymnus nicobarica'' Evans, 1932 – Nicobar Island * ''Loxura atymnus fuconius'' Fruhstorfer, 1912 – Borneo, Thailand, peninsular Malaya, Langkawi, Singapore

Life history

''Loxura atymnus'' uses '' Smilax zeylanica'' (Order:

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 ...

) and ''

Dioscorea pentaphylla ''Dioscorea pentaphylla'' is a species of flowering plant in the yam family known by the common name fiveleaf yam. It is native to southern and eastern Asia (China, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Philippines, etc.) as well as New Guinea and north ...

'' (Order:

Dioscoreaceae Dioscoreaceae () is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants, with about 715 known species in nine genera. The best-known member of the family is the yam (some species of '' Dioscorea''). The APG system (1998) and APG II system (2003) both ...

) as host plant. ''Smilax zeylanica'' is preferred for Oviposition and eggs are laid singly at the base of young shoots. Before hatching parts of the egg shell are consumed. Just after their emergence from the egg shells the hatchlings (1.23 ± 0.11 mm) consumed the remaining part of the egg shell, then they start feeding leaves. The first htree instars take 2–3 days. The fourth instar stops feeding after four days and attaches itself with a silk girdle and builds the pupal case. 15 to 16 days after hatching from eggs the pupation takes place. The adult butterflies emerged from the pupae after 7.7 (±0.27) days. The total life cycles were completed in 23–26 days in laboratory conditions and may be change with temperature changes. This short duration of life cycle enables the butterfly species to complete several life cycles within a year. File:Mating pair of Loxura atymnus Stoll, 1780 - Yamfly WLB.jpg, Mating pair File:Yamfly (Loxura atymnus) 01 Larva (2016.06.19).jpg, Larva File:Yamfly (Loxura atymnus) 04 Pupa (2016.06.24).jpg, Pupa File:Loxura atymnus - Yamfly 11.JPG, Dorsal view File:Ly Yamlfly 07 June 2007 A (540435060).jpg, Ventral view Image:Atymnus.jpg, Specimen from

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2192773 Loxura Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Singapore Butterflies described in 1782