Saturday 15 August 2015

99. Cigaritis lohita panasa (The Long-banded Silverline)

Number: 99
Family: Lycaeniidae
Sub-Family: Thecliinae
Species: Cigaritis lohita panasa (Fruhstorfer, [1912])
Common name(s): The Long-banded Silverline
Photography location: Cuc Phuong N.P. (Ninh Binh Prov.)

The genus Cigaritis is represented in Vietnam by 8 species viz. lohita, syama, seliga, vulcanus, vixinga, gigas, leechi & evansii. Two subspecies of C. lohita are recognized in the country: panasa and himalayanus (Monastyrskii & Devyatkin, 2016).

Cigaritis lohita panasa feeding on Bidens flower
Underneath, both sexes are similar with a pale yellow ground colour. Both wings are traversed by 5 or 6 silverlines broadly edged with dark red or black.

A very attractive species !





Close-up view on the silver lines on the underwings


The colour of the bands can vary greatly

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