''Stiboges nymphidia'', the columbine, is a small but striking butterfly found in the
Indomalayan realm
The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia.
Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...
that belongs to metalmark butterflies (family
Riodinidae
Riodinidae is the family of metalmark butterflies. The common name "metalmarks" refers to the small, metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings. The 1,532 species are placed in 146 genera. Although mostly Neotropical in distribution, ...
), related to
Punches and
Judies. It is the
sole member of the genus ''Stiboges'' Butler, 1876.
Description
The male upper wing is pure white, base of wings narrowly, costal margin of forewing very broadly; with the apical and terminal third of the forewing and terminal third of the hindwing black, the inner margin of this colour irregularly crenulate (scalloped). Forewing with subterminal and terminal very incomplete transverse series of white spots, the anterior two of the former series bring the largest. Hindwing with a subterminal undulated pale line, in some specimens white where it crosses the veins, and a terminal series of white lunules. Cilia white alternated with black. Underside similar, the markings generally more clearly defined, the pale subterminal line on the hindwing replaced by a line of obscure minute spots.
Antennae black with white rings at the articulations; head, thorax and abdomen black; beneath, the
palpi
Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicera ...
and abdomen white, the
thorax
The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen.
In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...
black.
Female is similar to the male, but the forewing with the black apical and terminal areas proportionately narrower; hindwing with a series of spots instead of the subterminal pale line on the upperside. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male.
Subspecies
*''S. n. nymphidia'' —
Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
to
Peninsular Malaya
Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the nearby isla ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
,
Naga Hills
The Naga Hills, reaching a height of around , lie prominently on the border of India and Myanmar. They are part of a complex mountain system, and the parts of the mountain ranges inside the States and territories of India, Indian states of Naga ...
, Burma
*''S. n. calycoides''
Fruhstorfer, 1897 — Java
*''S. n. elodinia''
Fruhstorfer, 1914 — China,
Indo-China
Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
*''S. n. mara''
Fruhstorfer, 1904 — Sumatra
See also
*
Riodinidae
Riodinidae is the family of metalmark butterflies. The common name "metalmarks" refers to the small, metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings. The 1,532 species are placed in 146 genera. Although mostly Neotropical in distribution, ...
*
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 (Riodinidae)
Notes
References
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q2206387
Nemeobiinae
Butterflies of Malaysia
Taxa named by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville
Butterflies described in 1843
Butterflies of Java
Butterflies of Indochina
Lepidoptera of Sumatra