''Colotis vestalis'', the white Arab, is a small

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, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in India, Pakistan, Iran, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania. It has a wingspan of 4–5 cm.

Description

Wet-season brood

The male has a white ground colour on the upperside, and the forewings and hindwings have broad terminal black bands. The forewing base, costal margin broadly and discoidal cell except at its lower apical area are heavily irrorated (speckled) with dusky-grey scales with a short streak at upper apex of cell joined to a large spot on the discocellulars, black; superposed on the black terminal area are two small preapical spots and a much larger subterminal spot in interspace 3, all of the white ground colour; minute white terminal specks also, often more or less obsolescent, in the interspaces. Hindwing more uniform, very slightly irrorated with grey scales at base, the black terminal band immaculate. Underside: greenish yellow sparsely sprinkled with black scales, the yellow very pale on the disc of the forewing, fading to white along its dorsal margin; discocellular spot and three subterminal posterior spots, that are placed in a curve, black; the lowest spot of the three sometimes extended to the dorsal margin (var. ''puellaris''). Hindwing: uniform, with a very small annular spot on the discocellulars. Cilia white. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black, the antennae speckled and tipped with white, the thorax clothed with long bluish-grey hairs; beneath: palpi, thorax and abdomen white. The female upperside is very similar to that of the male, with her terminal bands broader and brownish rather than black. The female's underside base and cellular area on forewing white are suffused with greenish yellow, while the costa and apex of forewing and the whole surface of the hindwing are pale ochraceous. The forewing has black spots as in the male, while the hindwing in a few specimens has an anterior, discal, somewhat obscure, macular, incomplete band. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen are the same as in the male.

Dry-season brood

Similar to the wet-season brood, but on the upperside the black markings are duller in tint and narrower, while on the underside in both sexes the costal and apical areas on the forewing and the whole surface of the hindwing vary from pale ochraceous to dark reddish ochraceous. Variety ''peelus'', Swinhoe, has the ground colour on the upperside pale canary yellow.

Distribution

It is recorded from

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

, the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and western India ( Kutch;

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

;

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, south to parts of Northern

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

). It is also found in the provinces around the Persian Gulf.

Subspecies

*''Colotis vestalis vestalis'' *''Colotis vestalis castalis'' (Staudinger, 1884) (Somalia, southern Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, north-eastern Tanzania) *''Colotis vestalis nadir'' Gross & Ebert, 1975

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2123419

vestalis ''Vestalis'' is a genus of damselfly, damselflies belonging to the family (biology), family Calopterygidae. The genus contains the following species: *''Vestalis amabilis'' *''Vestalis amaryllis'' *''Vestalis amethystina'' – Forest Damself ...