Polyommatus singalensis
Encyclopedia
The Singhalese Hedge Blue (Polyommatus singalensis) is a small butterfly
found in Sri Lanka
that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues
family.
Female upperside, fore wing: costa and termen very broadly blackish brown; the remainder of the wing purplish blue, paling almost to white towards the anterior, outer portion. Hind wing: costa broadly, termen and dorsum more narrowly blackish brown, the rest of the wing pale purplish blue, the colour getting still paler on the anterior and outer portion as on the fore wing: the blackish-brown edging on the terminal margin reduced posteriorly to an anticiliary black line within which there is a transverse series of subterminal black spots enclosed further inwards by an obscure series of dark lunules. Underside: groundcolour and markings as in the male. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen similar but darker.
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
found in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues
Lycaenidae
The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...
family.
Description
Race singalensis, Felder.— Male Upperside: purplish blue with in certain lights a refulgent silvery iridescence, most conspicuous along the costa of the fore wing, fore and hind wings : a very narrow black edging to the terminal margins narrower on the hind wing than on the fore wing, not dilated towards the apex of the latter. Cilia conspicuously white. Underside: silvery white with a slight tinge of blue; both fore and hind wings with the usual Cyaniris markings. Fore wing: the postdiscal series of abbreviated lines or elongate spots pale brown, very regular, placed almost end to end, the series slightly curved and not closer lo the termen posteriorly than anteriorly. Hind wing: the markings pale brown, regular but small, the subbasal transverse series of three spots and the subcostal spot in interspace 7 black, the latter not larger than the others. Both fore and hind wings: with the spots of the subterminal series very small, mere black dots; the inner subterminal series of markings lunular and generally somewhat blurred, the posterior lunules on the fore wing distinctly broadened as in the typical form but not so prominently; finally, the anticiliary black line very slender and clearly defined. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen blackish, the antenna ringed with white, the thorax clothed with purplish-blue pubescence; beneath: palpi, thorax and abdomen white.Female upperside, fore wing: costa and termen very broadly blackish brown; the remainder of the wing purplish blue, paling almost to white towards the anterior, outer portion. Hind wing: costa broadly, termen and dorsum more narrowly blackish brown, the rest of the wing pale purplish blue, the colour getting still paler on the anterior and outer portion as on the fore wing: the blackish-brown edging on the terminal margin reduced posteriorly to an anticiliary black line within which there is a transverse series of subterminal black spots enclosed further inwards by an obscure series of dark lunules. Underside: groundcolour and markings as in the male. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen similar but darker.
See also
- LycaenidaeLycaenidaeThe Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...
- List of butterflies of India
- List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)