| Common sailor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Upperside | |
 | |
| Underside | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Neptis |
| Species: | N. hylas |
| Binomial name | |
| Neptis hylas | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Neptis hylas, the common sailor, [1] [2] is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia. [1] [2] It has a characteristic stiff gliding flight achieved by short and shallow wingbeats just above the horizontal.
Dry-season form - Upperside black, with pure white markings. Forewing discoidal streak clavate (club shaped), apically truncate, subapically either notched or sometimes indistinctly divided; triangular spot beyond broad, well defined, acute at apex, but not elongate; discal series of spots separate, not connate (united), each about twice as long as broad; postdiscal transverse series of small spots incomplete, but some are always present. Hindwing: subbasal band of even or nearly oven width; discal and subterminal pale lines obscure; postdiscal series of spots well separated, quadrate or subquadrate, very seldom narrow. Underside from pale golden ochraceous to dark ochraceous almost chocolate; white markings as on the upperside, but broader and defined in black. Forewing: interspaces 1a and 1 from base to near the apex shaded with black, some narrow transverse white markings on either side of the transverse postdiscal series of small spots. Hindwing a streak of white on costal margin at base, a more slender white streak below it; the discal and subterminal pale lines of the upperside replaced by narrow white lines with still narrower margins of black. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black; the palpi, thorax and abdomen beneath dusky white. [3]
Wet-season form - Differs only in the narrowness of the white markings and in the slightly darker ground colour and broader black margins to the spots and bands on the underside. [3] [4]
More than 20 subspecies have been described. [5] [6] [7]
This species has been observed to make sounds whose function has not been established. [8]
Throughout continental India; Sri Lanka; Assam; Nepal; Myanmar (Tenasserim), extending to China and Indomalaya. [1] [2]
Race varmona = eurynome. Frederic Moore describes this from a drawing by Samuel Neville Ward as follows:
"Head larger than the anterior segment, vertex with two short pointed spines, cheeks obtusely spined; third, fourth, sixth and twelfth segments armed with a subdorsal pair of stout fleshy spiny processes, those on the fourth segment longest. Colour pale green; face, the tip of processes and segments slightly washed with pale pinkish, a slight pinkish oblique lateral fascia from an anal process; a small, dark, lateral spot on the sixth segment." [3]
"Rather short; head-piece bluntly cleft in front, vertex pointed; thorax dorsally prominent and angular; dorsum angular at base; abdominal segments slightly angled dorsally; wing-cases somewhat dilated laterally. Colour pale brownish-ochreous, with lateral thoracic golden spots." [3]
Luthrodes pandava, the plains Cupid or cycad blue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, United Arab Emirates, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Java, Sumatra and the Philippines. They are among the few butterflies that breed on plants of the cycad class.
Athyma selenophora, the staff sergeant, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in tropical and subtropical Asia.
Dodona dipoea, the lesser Punch, is a small but striking butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm that belongs to the Punches and Judies, that is, the family Riodinidae.
Dodona egeon, the orange Punch, is a small but striking butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm - in Mussoorie to Assam, Burma (nominate) and Peninsular Malaya that belongs to the family Riodinidae.
Colotis fausta, the large salmon Arab, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, India, Arabia, Chad, Somalia and United Arab Emirates.
Charaxes marmax, the yellow rajah, is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the rajahs and nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family.
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.
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.
Neptis soma, the sullied sailer or the creamy sailer, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in south and southeast Asia.
Euthalia lubentina, the gaudy baron, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia. It was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777.
Symbrenthia lilaea, the peninsular jester, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with Symbrenthia hippoclus. There are numerous regional forms, and the taxonomy of the group is not well resolved.
Cupha erymanthis, the rustic, is a species of brush-footed butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. The males and females are identical.
Athyma nefte, the colour sergeant, is a species of brush-footed butterfly found in tropical South and Southeast Asia.
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.
Lethe rohria, the common treebrown, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in Asia.
Lethe drypetis, the Tamil treebrown, is a species of Satyrinae butterfly found in south India and Sri Lanka.
The Indian fritillary is a species of butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed family. It is usually found from south and southeast Asia to Australia.
Pantoporia hordonia, the common lascar, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in Cambodia, tropical and subtropical Asia.
Cyrestis thyodamas, the common map, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1836. It is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
Neptis jumbah, the chestnut-streaked sailer, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Bingham, Charles Thomas (1905). Fauna of British India. Butterflies Vol. 1. pp. 323–326.One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Moore, Frederic (1896–1899). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. III. Vol. 3. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 227–232.
Media related to Neptis hylas at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Neptis hylas at Wikispecies