Aulocera brahminus

Aulocera brahminus, the narrow-banded satyr, is a brown (Satyrinae) butterfly that is found in the Himalayas. The species was first described by Émile Blanchard in 1853.[1][2]

Narrow-banded satyr
Aulocera brahminus in Seitz (41c)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Aulocera
Species:
A. brahminus
Binomial name
Aulocera brahminus
(E. Blanchard, 1853)

Range

The butterfly is found in the Himalayas from Kashmir eastwards to Garhwal, Kumaon, Nepal and Sikkim.[3]

Status

In 1932 William Harry Evans reported that the species was common.[3]

Description
For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

The barrow-banded satyr is 55 to 68 mm in wingspan.[3]

The barrow-banded satyrs are large powerfully built Himalayan butterflies which are black or very dark brown above. They are characterised by a white discal band across both wings. The hindwing band is narrow and even in width. The white discal spots in 1 to 4 along the inner edge of the forewing are in line. The wings are rounded with convex termens and have chequered fringes. A dark apical spot or ocellus is present on the forewing. The under hindwing is dark below, with beautiful white variegations not as prominent as the dark background.[3][4]

The tegumen is gradually sloped to the tip.[3]

Earlier Aulocera brahminoides was considered a subspecies of A. brahminus. In A. brahminus, the under-forewing apical ocellus is well-defined and prominently pupilled while in A. brahminoides it is less well defined, much smaller and darker. The upper-hindwing discal band to dorsum, which is a characteristic feature in A. brahminus is much curved in the case of A. brahminoides.[3]

See also

References
  1. Savela, Markku, ed. (March 8, 2019). "Aulocera brahminus (Blanchard, 1853)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  2. LepIndex shows this taxon as Satyrus swaha.[Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Satyrus swaha". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. ] LepIndex considers the genus Aulocera Butler, 1867; Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 4: 121, TS: Satyrus brahminus Blanchard. to be a junior subjective synonym of Satyrus Latreille 1810 Cons. gén. Anim. Crust. Arach. Ins.: 355, 440, TS: Papilio actaea Linnaeus.[Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Satyrus". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. ]
  3. Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 116, ser no D11.1.
  4. Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-8170192329.
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