Cupido lacturnus

Indian Cupid
In Sri Lanka
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Cupido
Species:	C. lacturnus
Binomial name
Cupido lacturnus (Godart, [1824])

Cupido lacturnus, the Indian Cupid, ^[1] is a small butterfly found in the Australasian and Indomalayan realms that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. ^[1]

Description

Harry Tytler described C. l. assamica in 1915 as:

Male. Upperside: Compared to Chilades parrhasius , black border much broader on both wings. Female. Upperside: the discal greyish-blue patch on forewing much reduced, darker and hardly visible; hindwing rather darker. Underside: similar.

—  Harry Tytler ^[2]

• 
  Upper side (male)
• 
  Upper side (female)
• 
  Under side (male)
• 
  Under side (female)
• 
  Mating pair

Subspecies

The subspecies of Cupido lacturnus are: ^{[3] [1]}

• Cupido lacturnus syntalaCantlie, 1963 – Gujarat southwards to Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
• Cupido lacturnus assamicaTytler, 1915 – Himachal Pradesh to N.E. India; Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• Cupido lacturnus pilaEvans, 1925 – Andamans & Nicobars Is. (All Nicobars).

References

1. R.K., Varshney; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing, New Delhi. p. 136. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN   978-81-929826-4-9.
2. Tytler, Harry Christopher (1915). "Notes on some new and interesting butterflies from Manipur and the Naga Hills". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 23 (2): 122.
3. "Everes lacturnus Godart, 1824 – Oriental Cupid" . Retrieved 9 July 2017.