Poritia phalena

Broad-branded Brilliant
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Papilionoidea
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Poritia
Species:	P. phalena
Binomial name
	Poritia phalena; (Hewitson, 1874)

The Broad-branded Brilliant (Poritia phalena)^[1] is a small butterfly found in India^[2] that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.

Range

It occurs in South Asia from Assam in India to South Myanmar^[2]^[3].

Status

Very Rare.^[2]^[3].

Description

A small butterfly, 28 to 34 mm in wingspan. The male is black above with brilliant greenish-blue streaks and spots, while the female is dark brown above with a white circular spot in the discal region of the forewing. Below, there are no bands of linked spots^[3].

Taxonomy

The subspecies of butterfly that occurs in South Asia is^[2] :-

P. phalena harterti Doherty. Assam - South Myanmar. Very Rare.^[2]

Cited references

^ Card for species phalena in LepIndex. Accessed 04 December 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Evans,W.H.(1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies, ser no H3.1, pg 209.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, pg 253

References

Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/lepindex [accessed 04 December 2006].
Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
Haribal, Meena (1994) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History.
Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.