Cigaritis lohita

Cigaritis lohita
Cigaritis lohita. Underside on right.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Cigaritis
Species:	C. lohita
Binomial name
Cigaritis lohita (Horsfield, 1829)
Synonyms
Amblypodia lohita Horsfield, 1829 Spindasis lohita (Horsfield); Cigaritis lohita (Horsfield); Aphnaeus lazularia Moore, [1881] Aphnaeus himalayanus Moore, 1884 Aphnaeus lohita senama Fruhstorfer, 1912 Aphnaeus zebrinus Moore, 1884 Spindasis milleri Corbet, 1940 Aphnaeus lohita batina Fruhstorfer, 1912 Aphnaeus lohita panasa Fruhstorfer, 1912 Aphnaeus formosanus Moore, 1877

Cigaritis lohita, common name Long-banded Silverline, is a species of lycaenid or blue butterfly

Subspecies

• Cigaritis lohita lohita (Horsfield, 1829) - Java
• Cigaritis lohita lazularia (Moore, 1881) - Sri Lanka
• Cigaritis lohita himalayanus (Moore, 1884) - India, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Sikkim to Burma, northern Thailand
• Cigaritis lohita senama (Fruhstorfer, 1912) - Sumatra, Peninsular Malaya, Singapore, Langkawi, southern Thailand
  • Cigaritis lohita senama f. zebrinus Moore, 1884 - Sri Lanka
• Cigaritis lohita batina (Fruhstorfer, 1912) - southern Vietnam, China: southern Yunnan
• Cigaritis lohita panasa (Fruhstorfer, 1912) - northern Vietnam
• Cigaritis lohita formosana (Moore, 1877) - Taiwan

Description

The wingspan of Cigaritis lohita reach 27–32 millimetres (1.1–1.3 in). The upperside of the forewings is dark brown, while the hindwings are bright blue, with orange markings at the base. On the underside of the wings these butterflies have a distinctive pattern of red-bordered silvery stripes. The hindwings show two white-tipped 'false antennae' tails.

Host plants

This species had been recorded on: Coffea liberica (Rubiaceae), Dioscorea sp. (Dioscoreaceae) Glochidion rubrum (Euphorbiaceae), Hiptage benghalensis (Malpighiaceae), Litchi sp. (Sapindaceae), Xylia sp. and Peltophorum sp. (Leguminosae) as well as on Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae).

Distribution

This species can be found in China, Assam, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Burma, Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Peninsular Malaya and Vietnam.

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  Cigaritis lohita in Buxa Tiger Reserve, India.

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  Cigaritis lohita himalayanus. Mounted specimen. Upperside