Cigaritis lohita

Cigaritis lohita
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, the long-banded silverline, is a species of lycaenid or blue butterfly.

Subspecies

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

^[1]

Description

The wingspan of Cigaritis lohita reaches 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. ^[2]

Host plants

This species has been recorded on: Coffea liberica (Rubiaceae), Dioscorea species (Dioscoreaceae) Glochidion rubrum (Euphorbiaceae), Hiptage benghalensis (Malpighiaceae), Litchi species (Sapindaceae), Xylia species and Peltophorum species (Leguminosae) as well as on Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae).^[3]^[1]

Distribution

This species can be found in China, Assam, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Burma, Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Peninsular Malaya and Vietnam.^[1]