New Species of Butterfly- Common Ciliate Blue found fluttering in Butterfly Park, Chandigarh.....by Kulbhushan Kanwar
Chandigarh, August 28, 2021: Kulbhushan Kanwar popularly known as Butterfly man of Chandigarh has found another new species of butterfly Common Ciliate Blue and with this the count of butterfly species found in Chandigarh has gone up to 131.
The Common ciliate blue or Common hairtail belongs to Lycaenidae family and its sub-family is Polyommatinae. Its scientific name is Antheneemolus. The male wingspan is 21-27 mm while female has 24-29 mm.This species is not a strong flier and can often be seen mudpuddling along roadside.They were seen flattering around in Butterfly Park. Normally it prefer forested area. It is on the wings around the year and especially in warmer areas in peak summer.
This butterfly have hairy antenna- like tails with black and white emulated appearance.Antheneemolus(Godart,[1824]- the male of Common Ciliate Blue is with dark blue purple gloss on upper wings while female has brown upper wings. It is tailless but there are three small tufts on hindwings. Both sexes are pale greyish brown with series of white striation on the both wings.
It lays eggs in cluster on the underside of the leaf or twigsof the host plants. Each egg’s basal diameter is 0.5 mm and is whitish with strong greenish undertone discoid-shaped with slightly depressed.
The caterpillar of the Ciliate Blue is polyphagousand is known to utilize multiple plants in a number of families as larval food plant in its range of distribution across the region. The weaver aunts attend it right from egg to final instar caterpillar of the Ciliate Blue.
Its host plants are Cassia fistula(Amaltas)( Wynter-Blyth 1957) Mangifera indica(Robinson et al.2010),Litchi chiensis(V.C.Balkrishnan per sobs.2017).The species is not a strong flier and often seen mudpuddling along roadside. This butterfly was seen flattering around in Butterfly Park. Normally it prefer forested area. This butterfly have hairy antenna- like tails with black and white emulated appearance.
LovishGarlani an butterfly expert in Himachal Pradesh said this butterfly has been reported from Ramnagar Forest Division, Kamaon, Uttarakhand by Sanjay Sondhiof Titli Trust in 2017. But it has not been reported from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir so this recent record from Chandigarh shows it is extending its range northwards.
In India it is found in West Bengal, Sikkim, Orisha, Arunachal Pradesh , Maharashtra, Kerala and northeast Andaman. It is also found in South Africa, Bhutan, Nepal and Singapore.
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Kulbhushan Kanwar, Nature Correspondent, Babushahi.com
Kulbhushankanwar@gmail.com
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