Logania watsoniana, or Watson's mottle,[1][2] is a small but striking butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues (family Lycaenidae). The species was first described by Lionel de Nicéville in 1898.

Watson's mottle
Illustration in Charles Swinhoe's Lepidoptera Indica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Logania
Species:
L. watsoniana
Binomial name
Logania watsoniana

Description

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Male upperside: white. Forewing: apex and termen very broadly brownish black, the inner margin of the black area angulated outwards in the middle of interspace 3, the basal third of the wing suffused with very pale greyish-blue, the costal and dorsal margins up to the black area sullied with pale brownish. Hindwing: the costal area from base to termen in a line above the cell brownish black, the white on the posterior half of the wing more or less stained and sullied with brownish. Underside: white. Forewing: costa and apex mottled with brownish, termen broadly brownish black, cell from base with a broad diffuse fuscous patch that extends below the median vein and outwards on to the disc. Hindwing: densely and more or less uniformly mottled with fuscous brownish-black. Antennae, head, thorax aud abdomen fuscous brown above and beneath.

Female upperside: similar to that of the male, but differs as follows: Forewing: base outwardly to beyond the cell strongly suffused with bluish grey, only the upper apex of the white area with the ground colour distinctly showing through; apex and termen more broadly and more densely black. Hindwing: entirely bluish grey, the costal margin broadly irrorated with dusky scales. Underside: as in the male, but the costa, apex and termen broadly in the forewing, as well as the whole surface of the hindwing, mottled with brownish; the scaling of this colour forms irregular spots and patches especially on the hindwing, which has a blotched appearance compared with the same wing in the male. The basal fuscous cloud extends into the medial white area in the forewing as in the male. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen similar to those of the male.[3]

Range

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This species resides in Manipur, Myanmar and Laos.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Savela, Markku. "Logania watsoniana de Nicéville, 1898". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  2. ^ Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "​Logania marmorata ssp. watsoniana​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  3. ^ Bingham, C.T. (1907). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. II (1st ed.). London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd.