Aulocera brahminus

Narrow-banded satyr
Aulocera brahminus in Seitz (41c)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Aulocera
Species:
A. brahminus
Binomial name
Aulocera brahminus
(E. Blanchard, 1853)

Aulocera brahminus, the narrow-banded satyr, is a brown (Satyrinae) butterfly that is found in the Himalayas. The species was first described by Émile Blanchard in 1853.[1][2]

Range

The butterfly is found in the Himalayas from Kashmir eastwards to Garhwal, Kumaon, Nepal and Sikkim.[3]

Status

In 1932 William Harry Evans reported that the species was common.[3]

Description

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

The barrow-banded satyr is 55 to 68 mm in wingspan.[3]

The barrow-banded satyrs are large powerfully built Himalayan butterflies which are black or very dark brown above. They are characterised by a white discal band across both wings. The hindwing band is narrow and even in width. The white discal spots in 1 to 4 along the inner edge of the forewing are in line. The wings are rounded with convex termens and have chequered fringes. A dark apical spot or ocellus is present on the forewing. The under hindwing is dark below, with beautiful white variegations not as prominent as the dark background.[3][4]

The tegumen is gradually sloped to the tip.[3]

Earlier Aulocera brahminoides was considered a subspecies of A. brahminus. In A. brahminus, the under-forewing apical ocellus is well-defined and prominently pupilled while in A. brahminoides it is less well defined, much smaller and darker. The upper-hindwing discal band to dorsum, which is a characteristic feature in A. brahminus is much curved in the case of A. brahminoides.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Savela, Markku, ed. (March 8, 2019). "Aulocera brahminus (Blanchard, 1853)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  2. ^ LepIndex shows this taxon as Satyrus swaha.[Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "​Satyrus swaha​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. ] LepIndex considers the genus Aulocera Butler, 1867; Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 4: 121, TS: Satyrus brahminus Blanchard. to be a junior subjective synonym of Satyrus Latreille 1810 Cons. gén. Anim. Crust. Arach. Ins.: 355, 440, TS: Papilio actaea Linnaeus.[Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "​Satyrus​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. ]
  3. ^ a b c d e f Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 116, ser no D11.1.
  4. ^ Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-8170192329.