Atrophaneura aidoneus

{{Speciesbox

| name = Lesser batwing

| image = Pangerana aidoneus_424.png

| image_caption = Male (above) and female

| taxon = Atrophaneura aidoneus

| authority = Doubleday, 1845

}}

Atrophaneura aidoneus, the lesser batwing, is an Asian species of butterfly that belongs to the batwings group of Atrophaneura, comprising tailless black swallowtail butterflies.

Description

Wingspan: 112–162 mm.
Male: Tailless. Above, the butterfly is bluish black and unmarked. It has a white scent patch in a square dorsal fold, which is pink or red on its marginal edge. This white scent patch is smaller than that of the common windmill.
Female: Tailless. Above, the butterfly is grey brown. It has dark stripes between the veins.

Resembles Atrophaneura varuna race astorion, but differs as follows: Cell of forewing proportionately not quite so long; abdominal fold to the hindwing in male not so broad, its lower margin not square, rounded; the specialized scales within the fold white, with an edging of pink. Female larger. Upperside: ground colour olivaceous brown, never black; abdomen with a broad white, not crimson, lateral stripe.{{cite book |last1=Bingham |first1=C.T. |author-link=Charles Thomas Bingham |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma |url=https://archive.org/details/butterflies02bingiala |volume=II |edition=1st |publisher= Taylor and Francis, Ltd. |location=London |year=1907 }}

Description in Seitz

Head red, the long hairs often almost all black;the sides of the breast and abdomen red, and the sides of the latter mostly white-red. Wings blue-black,

in the female often brownish, the forewing lighter, with the usual black stripes at the veins and folds. Scent¬fold of the male as the preceding species [Atrophaneura hageni]with white area, posteriorly edged with pale salmon-colour. North-West India, Sikkim, Bhutan, Khassia Hills (very rare), Burma, Shan States, Tonkin and Hainan; in Sikkim not rare up to about 5000 ft. from April to November; according to Manders the butterfly flies by preference in the deep shadow of forest-trees which overhang rivers. Its flight is slow and graceful.Karl Jordan in Seitz (page 29)Seitz , A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/61923 pdf] {{PD-notice}}

Range

Northern India, Bhutan, Burma, northern Vietnam, northern Laos, southern China (including Hainan (Guangdong province)).

In India, it is found in Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland.

Status

The butterfly is not common but not regarded as threatened.{{cite book|last1=Collins |first1=N. Mark |last2=Morris |first2=Michael G. |title=Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/98674#page/7/mode/1up |year=1985 |publisher=IUCN |location=Gland & Cambridge |isbn=978-2-88032-603-6 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}

Taxonomy

No subspecies.

Habitat

The lesser batwing flies from April to November and frequents forests up to the altitude of {{convert|5000|ft|m}}.

Habits

The lesser batwing is a shade-loving forest butterfly. It has a slow and graceful flight. Both sexes frequent flowers, often Lantana.

Cited references

References

{{cite book |last=Evans |first1=W.H. |author-link=William Harry Evans |title=The Identification of Indian Butterflies |edition=2nd |location=Mumbai, India |publisher=Bombay Natural History Society |year=1932 }}
{{cite book |last=Haribal |first=Meena |title=The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History |location=Gangtok, Sikkim, India |publisher=Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation |year=1992 }}
{{cite book|last=Wynter-Blyth |first=Mark Alexander |author-link=Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth |title=Butterflies of the Indian Region |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEkgAQAAMAAJ |year=1957 |location=Bombay, India |publisher=Bombay Natural History Society |isbn=978-8170192329 }}