Occurrence of Elymnias hypermnestra undularis (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Satyridae) at Ropar wetland, Punjab, India

 

Narender Sharma 1, P. Kumar 2 & P.C. Tak 3

 

1,2,3 Zoological Survey of India, Northern Regional Centre, 218 Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun 248195, India

1 narendersharma70@gmail.com , 2 abhinavsangal@rocketmail.com,3 pctakzsi@gmail.com (corresponding author)

 

 

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3190.5499-500  | ZooBank:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F960A8D1-06BA-47CA-AB1E-A0A35C11F03A

 

Editor: Peter Smetacek, Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal, India. Date of publication: 26 February 2014 (online & print)

 

Manuscript details: Ms # o3190 | Received 07 May 2012 | Final received 05 February 2014 | Finally accepted 10 February 2014

 

Citation: Sharma, N., P. Kumar & P.C. Tak (2014).Occurrence of Elymnias hypermnestra undularis (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Satyridae) at Ropar wetland, Punjab, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 6(2): 5499–5500; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3190.5499-500

 

Copyright: © Sharma et al. 2014. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

 

Funding: Zoological Survey of India.

 

Competing Interest: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We are thankful to Dr. K. Venkataraman, Director, Zoological survey of India, Kolkata for encouragement throughout and to Sh. P.T. Bhutia, Officer In-charge, Northern Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Dehradun for facilities. Thanks are also due the Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab for necessary permission to undertake the General FaunisticSurvey work and DFO, Ropar for various courtesies.

 

 

 

For image -- click here

 

 

Butterflies belonging to the genus Elymnias Hübner are commonly known as Palm Butterflies.  These are often brightly colored and generally resemble Danaines, which they mimic in one or both the sexes. This genus differs from other satyrine genera in having a hind wing prediscoidal cell (Bingham 1905; Evans 1932; Talbot 1947; Pinratana 1988; Eliot 1992).  It is represented by 11 species in India, of which three species—Elymnias hypermnestra (Linnaeus), E. malelas (Hewitson) and E. patna(Westwood)—are reported from northwesternIndia.  However, in an inventory of 54 satyrine species from northwesternIndia, Rose & Sharma (1998) included only one species, E. hypermnestra, represented by two subspecies viz., E.h. undularis (Drury) and E.h. caudataButler in India.

Distribution: In India, the subspecies E.h. undularis is found from Dun to northern Myanmar while E.h.caudata occurs in southern India.

Sharma (1998) reported this subspecies from PaontaSahib, Himachal Pradesh, which was the western limit of its known distribution.  Mackinnon & de Niceville (1897) mention that this subspecies is not common in northwestern India (Mussoorieand Dehradun, below 909m elevation).

Recently, while conducting a ‘General FaunisticSurvey’ of Punjab under the mandate of the Zoological Survey of India in the districts of Kapurthala, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur and Rupnagar (Ropar) in 2011, two specimens of Elymnias were collected from the vicinity of village Katli,Ropar wetland (Ramsar Site No. 1161) on 17 November 2011) 31001.067’N & 076032.325’E, accuracy 6.09m, elevation 243m.  The specimens are deposited at Zoological Survey of India, Northern Regional Centre, Dehradun.

Phoenix sylvestris (Linn.) Roxb., the only species of family Palmae, which is also known as Wild Date-Palm or Jungli Khajoor, occurs along roadsides and forests in Ropar.

The species was not seen in other districts, viz., Kapurthala(4–6 November, 6 localities); Amritsar (7 November, 3 localities); Gurdaspur (8 November, 2 localities); Pathankot(9–11 November, 8 localities); and Hoshiarpur(12–15 November 2011, 10 localities) of Punjab that were surveyed during the same month.

Material examined: Reg. no. A-11250, 1 male, 17.xi.2011, Ropar Forest Rest House, RoparDistrict, coll. P.C. Tak & party; Reg. no. A-11249, 1 female, 17.xi.2011, KatliVillage, Ropar Wetland,  (coll. P.C. Tak& party).

The presence of this subspecies at RoparWetland appears to be a westward extension to its known distributional range, >160km west of Paonta Sahib by road.

Remarks: This species exhibits strong sexual dimorphism and its females when flying alongside individuals of Danaus genutia (Cramer) and Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus) present an excellent example of mimicry.  Sharma (1998) while studying the taxonomy of the family Satyridaeof north-western India observed that in E. hypermnestra undularis, the prediscoidalcell of the hindwing has an additional prominent vein in the specimens collected from Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, which has also been noticed in the specimens examined in the present study.  However, earlier workers such as Bingham (1905), Evans (1932), Talbot (1947), Pinratana (1988) and Eliot (1992) though they studied the prediscoidal cell of hindwing, did not make mention of any additional vein in the prediscoidal cell of the hind wing.

Besides, the additional obscure black androconialpatch near the base of space 1A+2A on the uppersideof forewing in E. hypermnestra, mentioned by Eliot (1992) in specimens from the Malay Peninsula could not be observed in the specimens of E. hypermnestra undularis collected form PaontaSahib and Rupnagar.

The presence of the following secondary sexual characters of the male: a nacreous area on the underside of the forewing; a similar corresponding area in the costal region of the dorsal surface of hindwing; and possession of one pair of hair tufts as reported by Pinratana(1988) and Eliot (1992) in E. hypermnestrahave also been seen in hypermnestra undularis.

In the key to the genera of butterflies of the Malay Peninsula, Eliot (1992) has mentioned that the veins Cu1a and M3 of hindwing approximated at their origin at the lower end of the cell. In fact, Cu1a and M3 are wide apart at their origin in the specimens examined.

 

References

 

Bingham, C.T. (1905). The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Butterflies, 1. London: Taylor & Francis, 511pp+1–10pls.

Eliot, J.N. (1992). The Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula - 4th Edition. Malay Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, viii+595pp+69pls.

Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies - 2nd Edition. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, x+454pp+32pls+9 figs.

Mackinnon, P.W. & L. de Niceville (1897). A list of butterflies of Mussooriein the Western Himalayas and neighboring region. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 11: 205–221; 368–389; 585–605.

Pinratana, B.A. (1988). Butterflies in Thailand, Satyridae, Libytheidaeand Riodinidae. The VirathamPress, Bangkok, vii+61pp+44pls.

Rose, H.S. & N. Sharma (1998). An inventory of Satyridae (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) of northwestern India. Zoos’ Print 13(11): 29–30.

Sharma, N. (1998). Taxonomic studies on the family Satyridae(Lepidoptera: Ditrysia: Papilinoidea) of North-West India with emphasis on external genitalia. PhD Thesis. Punjabi University, Patiala, 260pp, 878 figs and photos.

Talbot, G. (1947). The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma - Butterflies Volume 2. Taylor and Francis, London, 506pp.