Miletus chinensis longeana

Miletus chinensis longeana
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Miletus
Species:	M. chinensis
Subspecies:	M. c. longeana
Trinomial name
Miletus chinensis longeana (de Nicéville, 1898)

Miletus chinensis longeana, or Long's brownie,[1][2] is a small but striking subspecies of butterfly found in India and Myanmar[3][4] that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

Range

It ranges from Manipur in India to Myanmar.[3][4]

Status

This subspecies is reported as not being rare by William Harry Evans[3] and as rare as per Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth.[4]

Description

A small butterfly, 30 to 38 mm in wingspan. The upper forewing in both sexes has a prominent curved white discal band; the lower spots composing it are separate and sometimes coalesced in female. The apical area of the upper forewing is darker than the basal area. The dry-season form of the butterfly is white above except for the apex and a discal brown patch of the forewing and the costa on the hindwing.[4]

Taxonomy

The butterfly was earlier known as Gerydus longeana de Nicéville.[3] It was formerly treated as a species, but is now regarded as a subspecies of Miletus chinensis.

Cited references

1. Page on Markku Savela's site for genus Miletus (Lycaenidae).
2. Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "​Miletus chinensis longeana​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. . Retrieved 21 April 2018.
3. Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 211, ser no H5.4.
4. Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 254. ISBN 978-8170192329.

References

Print

• Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
• Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.

Online

• Beccaloni, George; Scoble, Malcolm; Kitching, Ian; Simonsen, Thomas; Robinson, Gaden; Pitkin, Brian; Hine, Adrian; Lyal, Chris. "The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex)". Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
• "Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera".