Cirrochroa

Cirrochroa
	Tamil yeoman (C. thais)
	Malay yeoman (C. emalea emalea)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Tribe:	Vagrantini
Genus:	Cirrochroa; Doubleday, 1847
Species
	c. 18, see text

Cirrochroa, commonly called yeomen, is a genus of butterflies of the subfamily Heliconiinae in the family Nymphalidae found in southeast Asia. The genus ranges from India to New Guinea.

Description

Fairly large, broad-winged butterflies. The outer edges of the wings are wavy. The ground colour of the upper side is usually brown-orange, but can also be brown or blue. The wingtips are usually darker, and often have one or more thin brown zigzag lines along the outer edge and a series of brown spots on the hindwing. The underside of the wings is usually light brownish at the root, darker in the outer half.Cirrochroa is very nearly allied to Cynthia; but one can immediately recognize them through the delicate antennae, which are only slightly thickened at the end, and which bear no distinctly defined club. Further distinguishing characters are to be found in the strongly swollen palpi, the last joint of which is very finely pointed, the naked eyes and the simple precostal vein, which branches from behind the base of the subcostal, and which is slightly bent outwards. The neuration of Cirrochroa does not differ essentially from that of Cynthia and on this account is sharply divided from Cupha, the only other Argynnis-Genus, which possesses clubless antennae.^[1]

Biology

These butterflies prefer to live in forest edges up to 1000 meters above sea level. At least one of the species has larvae that live on the plant genus Hydnocarpus ( Achariaceae ). The butterflies are fast fliers, and relatively shy. They like to come down to the ground to soak up moisture.

Species

In alphabetical order:^[2]

Cirrochroa aoris Doubleday, 1847 – large yeoman
Cirrochroa clagia (Godart, 1824)
Cirrochroa emalea (Guérin-Méneville, 1843) – Malay yeoman
Cirrochroa eremita Tsukada, 1985
Cirrochroa imperatrix Grose-Smith, 1894
Cirrochroa malaya C. & R. Felder, 1860
Cirrochroa menones Semper, 1888
Cirrochroa niassica Honrath, 1892
Cirrochroa nicobarica Wood-Mason, 1881
Cirrochroa orissa C. & R. Felder, 1860 – banded yeoman
Cirrochroa recondita Roos, 1996
Cirrochroa regina C. & R. Felder, 1867
Cirrochroa satellita Butler, 1869
Cirrochroa semiramis C. & R. Felder, 1867
Cirrochroa surya Moore, 1879 – little yeoman
Cirrochroa thais (Fabricius, 1787) – Tamil yeoman
Cirrochroa tyche C. & R. Felder, 1861 – common yeoman
Cirrochroa thule C. & R. Felder, 1860

References

^ Seitz, A. 1912–1927. Die Indo-Australien Tagfalter. The Macrolepidoptera of the World 9: 1–766;pdf 767–1201,pdf pls 1–175.pdf This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Cirrochroa Doubleday, [1847]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

External links

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[1] Seitz, A. 1912–1927. Die Indo-Australien Tagfalter. The Macrolepidoptera of the World 9: 1–766;pdf 767–1201,pdf pls 1–175.pdf This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[2] "Cirrochroa Doubleday, [1847]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

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