Belenois Aurota
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''Belenois aurota'', the pioneer or pioneer white or caper white, is a small to medium-sized
butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
of the family
Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family (biology), family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from Afrotropical realm, tropical Africa and Indomalayan realm, tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern ...
, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
and Africa. In Africa, it is also known as the brown-veined white, and is well known during summer and autumn when large numbers migrate north-east over the interior.


Description


Wet-season form

The upperside of males is white with the forewing having the costa from base to base of vein 11 dusky black and then jet black continuing into a widened and curving short streak along the discocellulars to the lower apex of the cell; apical area diagonally with the termen black, the former with six elongate outwardly pointed spots of the ground colour enclosed one in each of the interspaces 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. Hindwing: uniform, the black along the venation on the underside seen through by transparency; termen between veins 2 and 6 somewhat broadly black, with a series of four round spots of the ground colour in the interspaces; below vein 2 and above vein 6 the termen is very narrowly black. Underside: forewing white, markings similar, more clearly defined, the white spots within the black apical area larger. Hindwing: yellowish white, all the veins very broadly bordered with black; interspaces 1, 2, 6, and 7 with crossbars of black, beyond which there is a subterminal, somewhat broad, transverse band of black between veins 2 and 6. Cilia of both forewings and hindwings white alternated with black. The ground colour on both upper and undersides variable, often cream coloured above; beneath: in some specimens, the base of cell and the elongate spots in apical area of forewing, and the whole surface of the hindwing varies to rich chrome yellow. Female similar; the black markings on both upper and undersides broader, the white spots on black apical area of forewing often sub-obsolete above. Antennae in both sexes black, sparsely sprinkled with white dots; head, thorax and abdomen above and below white: thorax above often bluish grey. File:Pioneer (Anaphaeis aurota) I IMG 0407.jpg, Wet-season form in
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
,
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
, India File:Pioneer (Anaphaeis aurota) W IMG 0387.jpg, Wet-season form in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
, India File:Pioneer or Caper White (Anaphaeis aurota) mating W IMG 9492.jpg, Wet-season form mating in Hyderabad, India File:Pioneer or Caper White (Anaphaeis aurota) in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 0324.jpg, Wet-season form in Hyderabad, India File:Pioneer or Caper White (Anaphaeis aurota) mating W IMG 9503.jpg, Wet-season form mating in Hyderabad, India File:Pioneer Butterflies Mudpuddling Chinnar WLS Kerala (66).jpg, Mudpuddling in Chinnar WLS Kerala, India File:לבנין משויש.jpg, Wet-season form in
Beit She'an Valley The Beit She'an Valley ( or ) is a valley in Israel. The valley lies within the Beit She'an rift, part of the Afro-Syrian Rift (Jordan Rift Valley), which opens westwards to the Harod Valley. It is a middle part of the Jordan Valley. The valle ...
,
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...


Dry-season form

The dry-season form is similar to the wet-season form but on the upperside the black markings are narrower, the white markings on the black apical area of forewing broader and longer, and on the hindwing the narrow inner margining to the black on the termen very narrow, somewhat obsolescent; therefore, the white subterminal spots have the appearance of opening inwards. Underside: ground colour almost pure white; on the hindwing slightly tinged with yellow. Antennae, head, thorax, and abdomen as in the wet-season form. Wingspan of 44–62 mm. Race ''taprobana'', Moore (
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
) differs from the typical form as follows: Male upperside, forewing: deep black on apical area, the enclosed white elongate spots more or less obsolete. Hindwing: the black terminal border much broader and of a deeper black, the enclosed white spots, except the spot in interspace 6, very much smaller, somewhat obsolescent, sometimes absent in interspace 4. Underside: similar to the upperside, the markings of a very intense black and broader, the enclosed spots in the apical area of forewing, the white of the cell and the area along the upper half of the wing generally overlaid with rich chrome yellow. Hindwing: ground colour a deep rich chrome yellow, the spots on it enclosed in the black along terminal margin subhastate (somewhat spear shaped), the spot in interspace 4 absent. The female is similar to the male on both upper and undersides, but in most specimens, on the upperside, the spots of the white ground colour that are enclosed in the black apical area of the forewing and the spots on the black border along the terminal margin of the hindwing are entirely absent. File:Common Wanderer I IMG 6488.jpg, Dry-season form in
Kullu Kullu () is a municipal council town that serves as the administrative headquarters of the Kullu district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the Beas River in the Kullu Valley about north of the airport ...
District of
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...
, India File:Pioneer or Caper White (Anaphaeis aurota) I IMG 6406.jpg, Dry-season form in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh, India


Distribution

The species lives in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
from
Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
to
Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...
at elevations below , and through the plains to southern India. In the Nilgiris observed up to (
George Hampson Sir George Francis Hampson, 10th Baronet (14 January 1860 – 15 October 1936) was an English entomologist. Hampson studied at Charterhouse School and Exeter College, Oxford. He travelled to India to become a tea-planter in the Nilgiri Hills ...
). To the west it spreads through Persia and Arabia to East Africa. The species occurs over the greater part of
Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...
.


Life cycle

Food plants of the larvae include ''
Capparis zeylanica ''Capparis zeylanica'' is a climbing shrub common in the forests of the Indian subcontinent, Indo-China, China and Malesia; no subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life. Several species of Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans i ...
''.Kunte, K. (2006) Additions to known larval host plants of Indian butterflies. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 103(1):119-120. In Africa, the host plants are almost exclusively from the family
Capparaceae The Capparaceae (or Capparidaceae), commonly known as the caper family, are a family of plants in the order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, the family contains 15 genera and about 430 species. The largest genera are ''Capparis'' (about 1 ...
and in particular the genera ''
Boscia ''Boscia'' is a genus of plants in the family Capparaceae. It contains the following species: *''Boscia albitrunca'' (Burch) Gilg & Ben. *''Boscia angustifolia'' A. Rich. *''Boscia arabica'' Pestalozii *''Boscia caffra'' Sond. *''Boscia coriac ...
'', ''
Maerua ''Maerua'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae. It includes 70 species of shrubs and small trees with its centre of diversity in Africa, though some species extend their range as far north as the Levant, and as far east as th ...
'' and ''
Capparis ''Capparis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae. It includes 142 species of shrubs or lianas which are collectively known as caper shrubs or caperbushes. ''Capparis'' species occur over a wide range of habitat in the subtr ...
''. Eggs are laid in batches of 20 or so, while the newly hatched larvae are gregarious.


Larva


Pupa

File:Anaphaeis aurota eggs sec.jpg, File:Belenois aurota early instar caterpillars.JPG, File:Anaphaeis aurota cat sec.jpg, File:Belenois aurota final instar caterpillar.JPG, File:Anaphaeis aurota pupa sec.jpg,


See also

*
List of butterflies of India (Pieridae) This is a list of the pierid butterflies of India. It forms part of the full List of butterflies of India. The family Pieridae, or the whites and yellows are a family of butterflies of moderate or small size. The common names refer to the two pre ...


Notes


References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2005632 Pierini Butterflies of Sri Lanka Butterflies of Africa Butterflies described in 1793 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius