Allotinus subviolaceus

Blue darkie
Museum specimen from Malaya
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Allotinus
Species:	A. subviolaceus
Binomial name
Allotinus subviolaceus C. Felder 1865

Allotinus subviolaceus, the blue darkie,^[1] is a small butterfly found in South East Asia^[2] that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

Range

This species resides in Manipur, Myanmar and Borneo.^[2]

Description

Male upperside: brownish black. Forewing: a medial area from base broadening outwards and extended to a little past the apex of cell, violaceous (violet coloured). This pale area varies very much in width and extent. In typical specimens from Java it is most restricted, but in those from the Malay Peninsula and Tenasserim (alkamah, Distant) it occupies a much larger extent of the wing. Hindwing: a broad medial longitudinal violaceous streak not extended to the termen. Underside: pale brownish white with darker specks, spots and transverse stria. These markings on both forewings and hindwings tend to coalesce and form broken transverse bands, the detached portions of each band placed more or less en echelon one with the other. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen pale brown; beneath: the palpi almost white, the thorax and abdomen paler than on the upperside.

Female upperside: similar to that of the male, but the violaceous area on both forewings and hindwings of much greater extent. Underside: also similar to that of the male, but the ground colour brighter with a tinge of yellow; the markings more ochraceous than brown, more conspicuous and prominent. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male but paler.^[3]

See also

• List of butterflies of India
• List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)

Cited references

1. Card for species subviolaceus in LepIndex. Accessed 23 March 2007
2. Page on Markku Savela's site for genus Allotinus (Lycaenidae).
3. Bingham, C.T. (1907). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. II (1st ed.). London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd.

References

Print

• Bingham, C.T. (1907). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. II (1st ed.). London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd.
• Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
• Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.

Online

• Beccaloni, George; Scoble, Malcolm; Kitching, Ian; Simonsen, Thomas; Robinson, Gaden; Pitkin, Brian; Hine, Adrian; Lyal, Chris. "The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex)". Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
• "Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera".

External links

• Asahi Correctly determined photos of Allotinus subviolaceus