| Lime blue | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dry-season form | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Chilades |
| Species: | C. lajus |
| Binomial name | |
| Chilades lajus (Stoll, [1780]) | |
| Synonyms | |
Chilades lajus, the lime blue, [2] is a small butterfly found in India, [2] Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Hainan, Mangulam Island, Sulawesi and the Philippines that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. [1]
Wet-season form: Male has a bluish-purple upperside. Forewing has base and basal half of costa flushed with pale blue; costa and termen edged by a slender dark brownish-block even line, beyond which along the termen the cilia are brown, at base, white outwardly. Hindwing: costa somewhat broadly dusky black; a slender black conspicuous anteciliary line, beyond which the cilia are white traversed medially by a brown line; dorsum broadly pale brown, two subterminal pale-bordered black spots in interspace 1, and one similar spot in interspace 2, often obsolescent and barely indicated. [3]
Underside: grey. Forewing: a transverse broad lunule on the discocellulars and a transverse discal series of six spots dark brown, the lunule and each of the discal spots edged with white; the posterior four spots of the discal series elongate and each obliquely placed, the anterior two round and curved inwards; a subterminal series of transverse elongate spots with an inner series of lunules dusky brown, both series edged inwardly and outwardly with white; finally, an anteciliary slender black line. Cilia white, medially traversed by a dark brown line. Hindwing: the following jet-black spots slenderly encircled with white: a transverse subbasal series of four and a subcostal spot somewhat larger than the others in the middle of interspace 7; below the latter a catenulated (linked like a chain) line of slenderly white-edged dusky-brown spots, including the lunular spot on the discocellulars, crosses the wing, and beyond these opposite the apex of the cell are three similar discal spots, the middle one elongate; the terminal markings consist of an inner continuous subterminal series of dusky lunules, bordered inwardly and outwardly with white, an outer subterminal series of inwardly conical dusky-brown spots, and a slender anteciliary black line. The posterior two spots of the outer line of subterminal markings are also black. Cilia white. Antennae black, the shafts obscurely ringed with white; head, thorax and abdomen brown, the head, thorax and base of the abdomen with a little blue scaling; beneath: the palpi, thorax and abdomen white. [3]
Female upperside: dark brown. Forewings and hindwings from their bases outwards to a varying extent shot with bright iridescent blue, this colour not extended on either wing to the costa, termen or dorsum. Hindwing: in addition a curved postdiscal series of whitish lunules very often obsolescent, in some specimens entirely wanting; followed by a subterminal series of black, narrowly white-encircled spots that are often obscure and in some specimens do not reach the apex. Anteciliary black lines and cilia as in the male. Underside: precisely similar to that of the male. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male. [3]
Dry-season form: Closely resemble specimens of the wet-season brood, but can always be distinguished by the somewhat paler ground colour of the upperside, while on the underside both sexes bear a large nebulous brown patch on the hindwing posteriorly. Sometimes the ground colour on the underside is much paler, almost white, especially in the female. [3]
Food plants include Glycosmis arborea . [4] "Pale green at all stages, on the shade or the young leaves of the lime and pummelo bushes on which it feeds. When full-grown it is about seven-sixteenths of an inch in length, onisciform as usual; the head "black, smooth and shining, with a somewhat dark green dorsal line down the body, the whole surface but very slightly shagreened and covered with extremely fine and short downy hairs. The constriction between the segments slight. There are traces of two pale subdorsal lines, and there is a pale lateral line below the spiracles. The usual extensile organ on the twelfth segment short. This larva has no distinctive markings by which it can be easily recognized; it is altogether a very plainly coloured and marked insert. I have found it common in Calcutta during the rains, the ant which attends it betraying its presence. The latter has been identified by Dr. A. Forel as Camponotus rubripes, Drury (sylvaticus Fabr.), subspecies conpressus, Fabr." (Lionel de Nicéville quoted in Bingham) [3]
"Green; of the usual Lycaenid shape, with a dorsal and lateral series of somewhat obscure conjoined brownish spots on the upperside. Attached to the underside of the leaves of its food-plant in the usual manner." (de Nicéville.) [3] [5]
Cethosia cyane, the leopard lacewing, is a species of heliconiine butterfly found from India to southern China, and Indochina. Its range has expanded in the last few decades, and its arrival in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, including Singapore, is relatively recent.
Azanus jesous, the African babul blue or topaz-spotted blue, is a small butterfly found in Africa, Egypt, Syria, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Niphanda cymbia, the pointed Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in northern India, Burma and northern Borneo that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Elkalyce kala, the black Cupid, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Euchrysops cnejus, the gram blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It is found from India to Australia. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798.
Jamides celeno, the common cerulean, is a small butterfly found in Indomalayan realm belonging to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1775.
Freyeria trochylus, the grass jewel, is a small butterfly found in Africa, Arabia, southern Europe, India and southern Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Anthene emolus, the ciliate blue, is a small butterfly found in India and southeast Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Jean-Baptiste Godart in 1823.
Callenya melaena, the metallic hedge blue, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Lycaenopsis marginata, the margined hedge blue, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Alpherakya devanica is a species of Lycaenid butterfly found in the Pamirs, Hindu Kush, Karakorum and Tajikistan.
Petrelaea dana, the dingy lineblue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm.
Nacaduba kurava, the transparent six-line blue, is a Lycaenidae butterfly found in Asia and Australia. The species was first described by Frederic Moore in 1857.
Prosotas noreia, the white-tipped lineblue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in South Asia and Java.
Nacaduba hermus, the pale four-line blue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The species was first described by Baron Cajetan von Felder in 1860.
Nacaduba berenice, the rounded six-line blue, is a lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The species was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1869.
Plebejus christophi, the small jewel blue, is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Cethosia nietneri, the Tamil lacewing, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in Sri Lanka and south India. The species name is after John Nietner who obtained specimens of the butterfly from Ceylon from which it was described.
Catochrysops strabo, the forget-me-not, is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. It is found in Sri Lanka, India, from Sikkim to Indochina and in Sundaland, Sulawesi and the Philippines.
Catopyrops ancyra, or Felder's lineblue, is a species of butterfly belonging to the lycaenid family described by Cajetan Felder in 1860. It is found in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Bingham, Charles Thomas (1907). Fauna of British India. Butterflies Vol. 2. pp. 365–367. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Swinhoe, Charles (1905–1910). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. VII. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 271–273.