Cigaritis meghamalaiensis

Cigaritis meghamalaiensis or the cloud-forest silverline is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.

Cigaritis meghamalaiensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cigaritis
Species:
C. meghamalaiensis
Binomial name
Cigaritis meghamalaiensis
Sadasivan & Naicker, 2023
Synonyms

Cigaritis conjuncta Kunte & Sengupta, 2024

Description

edit

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.[1]

Distribution

edit

C. meghamalaiensis has been described from the Meghamalai hills, in the southern part of the Western Ghats. It is found to be common in the Meghamalai of Tamil Nadu and in the nearby Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Forthcoming | ENTOMON". www.entomon.in.
  2. ^ "Top news developments from Kerala today". The Hindu.