Cigaritis meghamalaiensis

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Cigaritis meghamalaiensis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cigaritis
Species:
C. meghamalaiensis
Binomial name
Cigaritis meghamalaiensis
Sadasivan & Naicker, 2023
Synonyms

Cigaritis conjunctaKunte & Sengupta, 2024 [1] [2]

Cigaritis meghamalaiensis or the cloud-forest silverline is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, described by Sadasivan & Naicker, 2023 [3] Soon after, Cigaritis conjuncta Kunte & Sengupta, 2024 was described (in Kunte et al., 2024). [1] [4] As the two publications seemed to be redundant descriptions of the same species, the two scientific names were synonymised in a review by Sadasivan & Sengupta, 2024. [2]

Contents

Description

Cigaritis meghamalaiensis is distinguished from other species of the genus in peninsular South Asia, having the discal and postdiscal bands on the underside of the forewing being conjoined and parallel. It is also characterized by a continuous post-basal band on the underside of the hindwing, which doesn't reach up to the discal band. The dorsal side of the wings shows extensive blue markings in males. [3]

Distribution

C. meghamalaiensis was described from the Meghamalai hills, in the southern part of the Western Ghats, India. It is found to be common around the mountainous Meghamalai region of Tamil Nadu and the nearby Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala. [3] [5] Soon after, individuals from several hundred kilometres further north, in the Kodagu District ("Coorg") of Karnataka were described as Cigaritis conjuncta. [1] These authors stated their expectation of a wider distribution across the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, such as into "Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris) and southern Kerala" (p.91). [1] When later the two scientific names were treated as the same species in Sadasivan & Sengupta, 2024, the now broadened joint distribution was discussed against other butterflies from the Western Ghats. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Krushnamegh Kunte; Ashok Sengupta; Ujwala Pawar; Viraj Nawge (2024). "A new species of silverline butterfly, Cigaritis Donzel, 1847 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India". Zootaxa . 5399 (1): 85–95. doi:10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5399.1.7. ISSN   1175-5334. Wikidata   Q124833421.
  2. 1 2 3 Kalesh Sadasivan; Ashok Sengupta (2024). "The Butterflies of Western Ghats: Their Status and Distribution". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society . 121 (2): 126–174. doi:10.17087/jbnhs/2024/v121/164523. ISSN   0006-6982. Wikidata   Q135989566.
  3. 1 2 3 S. Ramasamy Kamaya Naicker; Sujitha Prabhakaran Chandrika; Baiju Kochunarayanan; Jebine Jose; Manoj Kripakaran; Rajkumar Chidambaram Palaniappan; Vinayan Padmanabhan Nair; Kalesh Sadasivan (2023). "A new species of Cigaritis Donzel, 1847 (Lycaenidae, Aphnaeinae) from the southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India". Entomon. 48 (4): 553–566. doi:10.33307/entomon/v48i4/991. ISSN   0377-9335. Wikidata   Q135982957.
  4. ↑ "Bengaluru biologists spot new butterfly species in Coorg; first one in the Western Ghats in four decades". Deccan Hearald. Retrieved 10 January 2024.}
  5. ↑ "Top news developments from Kerala today". The Hindu.
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