Common Shot Silverline

Cigaritis ictis ictis (Hewitson, 1865)


Malayalam Name

:

ചെമ്പൻ വെള്ളിവരയൻ

Order

:

Lepidoptera

Family

:

Lycaenidae

Sub-family

:

Aphnaeinae

Sub species

:

Cigaritis ictis ictis

Subspecies common names

:

Indian Common Shot Silverline


DISTRIBUTION

          India and Sri Lanka

STATUS: Not rare


HABITAT: 


HABITS


IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES

Wing Span: 30-42 mm.

Male. Upperside brown, with a purplish reflection in certain lights. Forewing with a somewhat triangular-shaped orange patch in the upper disc, variable in size in different examples, with two short blackish bars in it, the inner the shorter, where the orange space runs sufiiciently inwards there is another bar outwardly oblique right across its inner side. Underside  of forewing with a small spot in the cell, a bar across the end extending to the costa, a band from the middle of the costa, outwardly oblique to the sub-median vein to near the hinder angle where it is somewhat close to the narrow sub-marginal band, two short bands from the costa between them, the inner one the shorter. 


Female. Above and below very similar to the male, but the anal patch on both sides is bright orange-red, and the anal spots larger. Antennas black, with white segmental dots at the sides; head and body above and below concolorous with the wings.

SIMILAR SPECIES 

 Scarce Shot Silverline ( Cigaritis elima)

LARVAL HOST PLANTS

Senna montana (P. Churi pers. obs. 2017), Senna siamea (P. Churi pers. obs. 2017) (Fabaceae).

LIFE CYCLE

MORE IMAGES

Male

Female

Wet season form

Dry season form







Courtesy 

Write up:Wikipaedia
Images: TNHS & iFoundbutterfly.org

കേരള വനം വന്യജീവി വകുപ്പ്  
മാങ്കുളം ഡിവിഷൻ

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