Pseudophilotes vicrama

Pseudophilotes vicrama, the eastern baton blue,[1] is a small butterfly found from Asia,[2][3] east to Tian Shan and parts of China, west to the Balkans, Turkey, eastern Europe to southern Finland. It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

Eastern baton blue
in Turkey
in North Macedonia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Pseudophilotes
Species:
P. vicrama
Binomial name
Pseudophilotes vicrama
(Moore 1865)
Synonyms
  • Polyommatus vicrama Moore, 1865
  • Turana baton anteschiffermulleri Verity, 1936
  • Lycaena baton var. clara Christoph, 1887

Taxonomy

The butterfly was earlier known as Polyommatus vicrama (Staudinger).[2]

Range

In Asia, it is found in South Asia from India (Himachal Pradesh) westwards to Balochistan and Chitral in Pakistan.[2]

Wynter-Blyth records the eastern baton blue as not rare locally and occurring in Baluchistan and from Chitral to Shipki La.[4]

As per Savela, the butterfly is found in the Pamirs - Alay Mountains, Ghissar - Darvaz, Tian-Shan, north-west India south-eastEurope, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, western Siberia, Altai, Turan and Kopet-Dagh.[3]

Description

The eastern baton blue is 20 to 26 mm in size. The male butterfly is pale dusky blue with a broad border while the female is brown. The butterfly is named for its prominent chequered fring[4] In Seitz it is described as a form of Baton — In Anterior Asia the males have a brighter colour, which has often a silvery white sheen; this is clara Christ. — vicrama from Afghanistan, has no distinct discocellular spot on the upperside of the forewing, there being also no dark marginal dots on the hindwing above. — cashmirensis Moore, form Kashmir, has a distinct black discocellular spot on the forewing like the European forms on the upperside, moreover, the forewing bears whitish marginal lunules and dark veins and the hindwing marginal dots.[5]

Subspecies
  • P. v. vicrama (Pamirs-Alai, Ghissar-Darvaz, Tian-Shan, north-western India)
  • P. v. cashmirensis (Moore, 1874) Northeast Kashmir
  • P. v. astabene (Hemming, 1932) (Kopet-Dagh)
  • P. v. clara (Christoph, 1887) (The Balkans, Middle East, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkestan)
  • P. v. pallida (Shchetkin, 1960) (Turan, southern Ghissar)
  • P. v. schiffermulleri (Hemming, 1929) (south-eastern Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, western Siberia, Altai)
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See also

Cited references
  1. Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Pseudophilotes baton ssp. vicrama". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  2. Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 225, ser no H22.2.
  3. Page on Markku Savela's site for genus Pseudophilotes (Lycaenidae).
  4. Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 281. ISBN 978-8170192329.
  5. Seitz, A. Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

References


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