Spalgis epius

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Apefly
350px
Spalgis epius from Mangaon (Maharashtra, India)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Spalgis
Species:
S. epius
Binomial name
Spalgis epius
(Westwood, 1851)
Synonyms
  • Geridus epeus Westwood, [1851]
  • Lucia epius
  • Spalgis nubilus Moore, [1884]
  • Lucia fangola Kheil, 1884
  • Spalgis titius Fruhstorfer, 1919
  • Lucia substrigata Snellen, 1878
  • Spalgis strigatus Semper, 1889
  • Spalgis georgi Fruhstorfer, 1919
  • Spalgis semperi Fruhstorfer, 1919
  • Lucia dilama Moore, 1878
  • Spalgis pharnus Felder, 1860

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The Apefly (Spalgis epius) is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.[1] It gets its name from the supposed resemblance of its caterpillar to the face of an ape.

Description

Male

Upperside: dull brown, slightly darker towards the apex of the fore wing; also a more or less quadrate whitish spot beyond the apex of the cell on the same wing; in some specimens this spot is slightly diffuse. Underside : pale, silky, brownish-white; fore and hind wings crossed by numerous, very slender, short, sinuous, transverse, dark brown strigae which are outwardly slenderly edged with brownish-white of a shade paler than that of the ground-colour; both wings with an anticiliary dark brown line with on the inner side a similar edging. Fore wing, in addition, with an oval white spot beyond the cell. Cilia of both fore and hind wings of the same shade as the ground-colour of the wings. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen pale brown, club of antennae ochraceous at apex; beneath : the palpi and thorax brownish-grey, abdomen pale brown.

Female

Upperside: slightly paler brown. Fore wing: the cell and apex darker; a white spot similar to that in the male but larger, beyond the apex of the cell; in most specimens extended diffusely outwards and downwards. Hind wing: similar to that of the male. Underside: precisely as in the male.[2]

  • AB107 Apefly.JPG

    Apefly with part of upper forewing visible

  • AB108 Apefly.JPG

    Apefly from Salugara forest, North Bengal

  • Lycaenid wyn.jpg

    Apefly from Wayanad perched upside down on a twig

  • Epius.jpg

    Upperside. Museum specimen. Malaya.

Life cycle

  • Spalgis epius Cat early instar.JPG

    Apefly Second Instar Caterpillar

  • Spalgis epius cat later instar.JPG

    Apefly Third Instar Caterpillar

  • Spalgis epius cat final instar.JPG

    Apefly final instar caterpillar

  • Spalgis epius pupa blore.JPG

    Apefly Pupa

  • Apefly pupa ape view.JPG

    Headon view of pupa showing the ape face resemblance

  • Freshly Eclosed Spalgis epius.JPG

    Freshly eclosed Apefly Butterfly

The caterpillars of this butterfly like other members of the subfamily Miletinae are entomophagous and are predators of scale insects.[3] The species unlike many other lycaenid butterflies is not myrmecophilous.[4]

Subspecies

  • Spalgis epius epius (India, Sri Lanka to Peninsular Malaya, Nicobars, Mergui and southern Yunnan)
  • Spalgis epius dilama (Moore, 1878) (Taiwan)
  • Spalgis epius fangola (Kheil, 1884) (Sumatra, Nias, possibly Borneo)
  • Spalgis epius nubilus Moore, [1884] (Andamans, Pulau Tioman)
  • Spalgis epius pharnus Felder, 1860 (Kai, Buru, Ambon, Halmahera, West Irian)
  • Spalgis epius semperi Fruhstorfer, 1919 (northern Philippines, Luzon)
  • Spalgis epius strigatus Semper, 1889 (southern to central Philippines)
  • Spalgis epius substrigata (Snellen, 1878) (Sulawesi)
  • Spalgis epius titius Fruhstorfer, 1919 (Java, Bali, Sumba, Sumbawa, possibly Damar and Lombok)

Cited references

  1. ↑ Page on Marrku Savela's site for genus Spalgis (Lycaenidae).
  2. ↑ Bingham, C. T. (1907) Fauna of British India. Butterflies. Volume 2.
  3. ↑ Venkatesha, M. G., L. Shashikumar, S.S.Gayathri Devi (2004) Protective devices of the carnivorous butterfly, Spalgis epius (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) Current Science 87(5): 571-572 PDF
  4. ↑ Venkatesha, M. G. (2005) Why is homopterophagous butterfly, Spalgis epius (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) amyrmecophilous? Current Science 89(2):245-246 PDF

See also

References

  • Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
  • Gaonkar, Harish (1996) Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a threatened mountain system. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
  • Haribal, Meena (1994) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History.
  • Kunte,Krushnamegh (2005) Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press.
  • Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.

External links

  • Asahi Correctly determined photos of Spalgis epius
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