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''Prioneris sita'', the painted sawtooth, is a small
Wingspan: 86–90 mm (3.40-3.55 in).
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 India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
and 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, ...
.
Description
. Upperside: White with a slight greenish tint. Forewings and hindwings: The markings of the underside faintly visible through the wing. Underside: Forewing: White, costa black and the apex suffuse with yellow. Hindwing: Rich chrome yellow up to a postdiscal band. Beyond this the ground color is white with a series of large terminal vermillion-red spots. These spots are rectangular or truncated cone shaped. The antennae is brownish black. Head and thorax are covered with long bluish-grey hairs. The abdomen is greyish white.
Wingspan: 86–90 mm (3.40-3.55 in).
Mimicry
The painted sawtooth is a Batesian mimic of '' Delias eucharis'', the common Jezebel, which has a much greater range, covering the entire Indian peninsula. Prioneris sita is only found in a small stretch of the Western Ghats, ranging from West-CentralKarnataka
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 ...
, to the Nilgiris and Wayanad
Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...
, south to Nilambur
Nilambur () is a major town, a municipality and a Taluk in the Malappuram district of the Indian state of Kerala. It is located close to the Nilgiri Mountains, Nilgiris range of the Western Ghats on the banks of the Chaliyar River. This place is ...
. It is a rare visitor to Travancore
The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...
. The two can be told apart from the shape of the hindwing. The painted sawtooth has a much broader hindwing. The orange-red spots on the margin of the hindwing, in the painted sawtooth, are more squarish in shape whereas in the common Jezebel they are arrowhead shaped. The painted sawtooth also flies faster and inhabits dense forests. Unlike the common Jezebel it can also be found mud-puddling.
Life cycle
Larva: Dull blue green. The head and all the segments are dotted with minute blue tubercles, those on the head and sides are black tipped. Dorsal surface pubescent with a lateral fringe of soft white hairs below the spiracles. Pupa: Bright green in color. Sharply pointed at the head, with two strong lateral points and keeled on the dorsal surface of the thoracic segments. There is an interrupted yellow dorsal line, and a short curved crimson line on each side below the thoracic segments bordering a small white irregular black speckled spot.See also
*List of butterflies of India
The following is a list of the butterflies of India.
India has extremely diverse terrain, climate and vegetation, which comprises extremes of heat cold, desert and jungle, of low-lying plains and the highest mountains, of dryness and dampness, is ...
*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
* * * * * Prioneris Butterflies of Asia Taxa named by Cajetan von Felder Butterflies described in 1865 Butterflies of Sri Lanka {{Pieridae-stub