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{{Short description|Species of butterfly}}
{{italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
{{Taxobox
| name = Apefly
| name = Apefly
| image = Apefly (Spalgis epius) Photograph By Shantanu Kuveskar.jpg
| image = Apefly Spalgis epius (4049108508).jpg
| image_caption = Upperside
| image_width = 350px
| image2 = Spalgis epius 00002(28052015).jpg
| image_caption = From [[Mangaon]] ([[Maharashtra]], [[India]])
| image2_caption = Underside, [[Kerala]], India
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
⚫
| taxon = Spalgis epius
| phylum = [[Arthropod]]a
⚫
| authority = ([[John O. Westwood|Westwood]], 1851)
| classis = [[Insect]]a
⚫
| synonyms =
| ordo = [[Lepidoptera]]
| familia = [[Lycaenidae]]
| genus = ''[[Spalgis]]''
| species = '''''S. epius'''''
⚫
| binomial = ''Spalgis epius''
⚫
| binomial_authority = ([[John O. Westwood|Westwood]], 1851)
⚫
| synonyms =
*''Geridus epeus'' <small>Westwood, [1851]</small>
*''Geridus epeus'' <small>Westwood, [1851]</small>
*''Lucia epius''
*''Lucia epius''
Line 27: Line 21:
*''Spalgis pharnus'' <small>Felder, 1860</small>
*''Spalgis pharnus'' <small>Felder, 1860</small>
}}
}}

'''''Spalgis epius''''', the '''apefly''', is a small [[butterfly]] found in [[Asia]] that belongs to the [[Lycaenidae|lycaenids or blues]] family.<ref name="Funet.fi">[http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/miletinae/spalgis/index.html Page on Markku Savela's site for genus ''Spalgis'' (Lycaenidae).]</ref> It gets its name from the supposed resemblance of its caterpillar to the face of an [[ape]].
'''''Spalgis epius''''',<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/49324#page/258/mode/1up |title=The genera of diurnal Lepidoptera: comprising their generic characters, a notice of their habits and transformations, and a catalogue of the species of each genus|last1=Doubleday|first1=Edward|last2=Westwood|first2=John Obadiah|author-link1=John O. Westwood|author-link2=Edward Doubleday|publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans|year=1851|location=London|pages=502}}</ref> commonly known as the '''apefly''', is a small species of [[butterfly]] found in the [[Indomalayan realm]] that belongs to the [[Lycaenidae|lycaenids or blues]] family.<ref name=Smetacek>{{Cite book |title=A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India |last1=Varshney |first1=R. K. |last2=Smetacek|first2=Peter|publisher=Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing |year=2015|isbn=978-81-929826-4-9|location=New Delhi|pages=91|doi=10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164}}</ref><ref name="Funet.fi">{{cite web |last=Savela |first=Markku |date=September 25, 2016 |url=https://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/miletinae/spalgis/#epius |title=''Spalgis epius'' (Westwood, 1852) |website=Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms |access-date=January 15, 2020}}</ref> It gets its name from the supposed resemblance of its pupa to the face of an [[ape]].


==Description==
==Description==


===Male===
===Male===
Upperside: dull brown, slightly darker towards the apex of the forewing; also a more or less quadrate whitish spot beyond the apex of the cell on the same wing; in some specimens this spot is slightly diffuse. Underside: pale, silky, brownish white; forewings and hindwings crossed by numerous, very slender, short, sinuous, transverse, dark brown strigae which are outwardly slenderly edged with brownish white of a shade paler than that of the ground colour; both wings with an anticiliary dark brown line with on the inner side a similar edging. Forewing, in addition, with an oval white spot beyond the cell. Cilia of both forewings and hindwings of the same shade as the ground colour of the wings. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen pale brown, club of antennae ochraceous at apex; beneath: the palpi and thorax brownish grey, abdomen pale brown.
Upperside: dull brown, slightly darker towards the apex of the forewing; also a more or less quadrate whitish spot beyond the apex of the cell on the same wing; in some specimens this spot is slightly diffuse. Underside: pale, silky, brownish white; forewings and hindwings crossed by numerous, very slender, short, sinuous, transverse, dark brown strigae which are outwardly slenderly edged with brownish white of a shade paler than that of the ground colour; both wings with an anteciliary dark brown line with on the inner side a similar edging. Forewing, in addition, with an oval white spot beyond the cell. Cilia of both forewings and hindwings of the same shade as the ground colour of the wings. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen pale brown, club of antennae ochraceous at apex; beneath: the palpi and thorax brownish grey, abdomen pale brown.<ref name=ctb/>


===Female===
===Female===
Upperside: slightly paler brown. Forewing: the cell and apex darker; a white spot similar to that in the male but larger, beyond the apex of the cell; in most specimens extended diffusely outwards and downwards. Hindwing: similar to that of the male. Underside: precisely as in the male.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bingham |first1=C.T. |authorlink=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 & Francis|Taylor and Francis, Ltd.]] |location=London |year=1907 }}</ref>
Upperside: slightly paler brown. Forewing: the cell and apex darker; a white spot similar to that in the male but larger, beyond the apex of the cell; in most specimens extended diffusely outwards and downwards. Hindwing: similar to that of the male. Underside: precisely as in the male.<ref name=ctb>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{cite book |last1=Bingham |first1=C. T. |author-link=Charles Thomas Bingham |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Butterflies Volume II |url=https://archive.org/stream/butterflies02bingiala#page/310/mode/2up/ |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis|Taylor and Francis, Ltd.]] |location=London |year=1907|pages=311}}}}</ref><ref name=SwinhoeIndica>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/103631#page/248/mode/1up |title=Lepidoptera Indica: Volume VII|last=Swinhoe|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Swinhoe|publisher=Lovell Reeve and Co.|year=1905–1910|location=London|pages=234–235}}}}</ref>


<gallery>
Image:AB107 Apefly.JPG|Apefly with part of upper forewing visible
Image:AB108_Apefly.JPG|Apefly from Salugara forest, North Bengal
Image:Lycaenid_wyn.jpg|Apefly from [[Wayanad]] perched upside down on a twig
Image:Epius.jpg|Upperside of specimen from [[Malay Peninsula|Malaya]]
</gallery>


==Life cycle==
==Life cycle==
<gallery>
<gallery>
Image:Spalgis epius Cat early instar.JPG|Apefly second [[instar]] caterpillar
Image:Apefly (Spalgis epius) mating pair.jpg|Mating Pair
Image:Spalgis epius cat later instar.JPG|Third instar caterpillar
Image:Apefly First-instar.jpg|Apefly first-instar caterpillar
Image:Spalgis epius cat final instar.JPG|Final instar caterpillar
Image:Spalgis epius Cat early instar.JPG|Apefly second-[[instar]] caterpillar
Image:Spalgis epius pupa blore.JPG|Pupa
Image:Spalgis epius cat later instar.JPG|Third-instar caterpillar
Image:Spalgis epius cat final instar.JPG|Final-instar caterpillar
Image:Apefly pupa ape view.JPG|Head on view of pupa showing the ape face resemblance
Image:Apefly Spalgis epius Pupa (3666792277).jpg|Pupa
Image:Freshly Eclosed Spalgis epius.JPG|Freshly eclosed apefly butterfly
Image:Freshly Eclosed Spalgis epius.JPG|Freshly eclosed apefly butterfly
</gallery>
</gallery>
The caterpillars of this butterfly, like other members of the subfamily [[Miletinae]], are [[entomophagous]] and are predators of [[scale insect]]s.<ref>Venkatesha, M. G., L. Shashikumar, S.S.Gayathri Devi (2004) Protective devices of the carnivorous butterfly, ''Spalgis epius'' (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) Current Science 87(5): 571-572 [http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep102004/571.pdf PDF]</ref> The species unlike many other [[Lycaenidae|lycaenid butterflies]] is not [[myrmecophily|myrmecophilous]].<ref>Venkatesha, M. G. (2005) Why is homopterophagous butterfly, ''Spalgis epius'' (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) amyrmecophilous? Current Science 89(2):245-246 [http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jul252005/245.pdf PDF]</ref>
The caterpillars of this butterfly, like other members of the subfamily [[Miletinae]], are [[entomophagous]] and are predators of [[scale insect]]s like [[mealybug]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2018-04-10 |title=Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India|first1=Ravikanthachari |last1=Nitin |first2=V.C. |last2=Balakrishnan |first3=Paresh V. |last3=Churi |first4=S. |last4=Kalesh |first5=Satya |last5=Prakash |first6=Krushnamegh |last6=Kunte |name-list-style=amp |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=11495–11550 |doi=10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Venkatesha |first1=M. G. |first2=L. |last2=Shashikumar |first3=S. S. |last3=Gayathri Devi |name-list-style=amp |date=2004 |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep102004/571.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716051734/http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep102004/571.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-07-16 |title=Protective devices of the carnivorous butterfly, ''Spalgis epius'' (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) |journal=Current Science |volume=87 |issue=5 |pages=571–572 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The species unlike many other [[Lycaenidae|lycaenid butterflies]] is not [[myrmecophily|myrmecophilous]] (it has no mutualistic associations with ants).<ref>Venkatesha, M. G. (2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716051803/http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jul252005/245.pdf "Why is homopterophagous butterfly, ''Spalgis epius'' (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) amyrmecophilous?"]. ''Current Science''. '''89''' (2): 245–246. – via Internet Archive.</ref>


==Subspecies==
==Subspecies==
*''S. e. epius'' (India, Sri Lanka to Peninsular Malaya, Nicobars, Mergui and southern Yunnan)
*''S. e. epeus'' (India, Sri Lanka to Peninsular Malaya, Nicobars, Mergui and southern Yunnan)
*''S. e. dilama'' <small>(Moore, 1878)</small> (Taiwan)
*''S. e. dilama'' <small>(Moore, 1878)</small> (Taiwan)
*''S. e. fangola'' <small>(Kheil, 1884)</small> (Sumatra, Nias, possibly Borneo)
*''S. e. fangola'' <small>(Kheil, 1884)</small> (Sumatra, Nias, possibly Borneo)
Line 73: Line 63:


==References==
==References==
* {{cite book |last=Evans |first1=W.H. |authorlink=William Harry Evans |title=The Identification of Indian Butterflies |edition=2nd |location=Mumbai, India |publisher=[[Bombay Natural History Society]] |year=1932 }}
* {{cite book |last1=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=Gaonkar |first=Harish |authorlink=Harish Gaonkar |title=Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a Threatened Mountain System |publisher=Centre for Ecological Sciences |location=Bangalore, India |year=1996 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gaonkar |first=Harish |author-link=Harish Gaonkar |title=Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a Threatened Mountain System |publisher=Centre for Ecological Sciences |location=Bangalore, India |year=1996}}
* {{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=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=Kunte |first=Krushnamegh |title=Butterflies of Peninsular India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuPPjOMcu_4C |series=India, A Lifescape |location=Hyderabad, India |publisher=Universities Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-8173713545 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kunte |first=Krushnamegh |title=Butterflies of Peninsular India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuPPjOMcu_4C |series=India, A Lifescape |location=Hyderabad, India |publisher=Universities Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-8173713545}}
* {{cite book|last=Wynter-Blyth |first=Mark Alexander |authorlink=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 }}
* {{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}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons}}
*[http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~EY4Y-TKNM/philframe.html Asahi] Correctly determined photos of ''Spalgis epius''
{{Wikispecies}}
*{{cite web |last1=Takanami |first1=Yusuke |last2=Seki |first2=Yasuo |name-list-style=amp |date=2001 |url=http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~EY4Y-TKNM/Miletini-Phil/Spalgis.html |title=Genus ''Spalgis'' |website=A Synonymic List of Lycaenidae from the Philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010630131957/http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~EY4Y-TKNM/Miletini-Phil/Spalgis.html |archive-date=June 30, 2001 |via=Internet Archive}} With images.

{{Taxonbar |from=Q7573002}}


[[Category:Insects described in 1851]]
[[Category:Butterflies described in 1851]]
[[Category:Miletinae]]
[[Category:Miletinae]]
[[Category:Butterflies of India]]
[[Category:Butterflies of Asia]]
[[Category:Butterflies of Singapore]]
[[Category:Butterflies of Singapore]]
[[Category:Butterflies of Borneo]]
[[Category:Butterflies of Borneo]]

Latest revision as of 12:38, 26 May 2024

Apefly
Upperside
Underside, Kerala, India
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Spalgis
Species:
S. epius
Binomial name
Spalgis epius
(Westwood, 1851)
Synonyms
  • Geridus epeus Westwood, [1851]
  • Lucia epius
  • Spalgis nubilus Moore, [1884]
  • Lucia fangola Kheil, 1884
  • Spalgis titius Fruhstorfer, 1919
  • Lucia substrigata Snellen, 1878
  • Spalgis strigatus Semper, 1889
  • Spalgis georgi Fruhstorfer, 1919
  • Spalgis semperi Fruhstorfer, 1919
  • Lucia dilama Moore, 1878
  • Spalgis pharnus Felder, 1860

Spalgis epius,[1] commonly known as the apefly, is a small species of butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.[2][3] It gets its name from the supposed resemblance of its pupa to the face of an ape.

Description

[edit]

Male

[edit]

Upperside: dull brown, slightly darker towards the apex of the forewing; also a more or less quadrate whitish spot beyond the apex of the cell on the same wing; in some specimens this spot is slightly diffuse. Underside: pale, silky, brownish white; forewings and hindwings crossed by numerous, very slender, short, sinuous, transverse, dark brown strigae which are outwardly slenderly edged with brownish white of a shade paler than that of the ground colour; both wings with an anteciliary dark brown line with on the inner side a similar edging. Forewing, in addition, with an oval white spot beyond the cell. Cilia of both forewings and hindwings of the same shade as the ground colour of the wings. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen pale brown, club of antennae ochraceous at apex; beneath: the palpi and thorax brownish grey, abdomen pale brown.[4]

Female

[edit]

Upperside: slightly paler brown. Forewing: the cell and apex darker; a white spot similar to that in the male but larger, beyond the apex of the cell; in most specimens extended diffusely outwards and downwards. Hindwing: similar to that of the male. Underside: precisely as in the male.[4][5]


Life cycle

[edit]
  • Mating Pair
    Mating Pair
  • Apefly first-instar caterpillar
    Apefly first-instar caterpillar
  • Apefly second-instar caterpillar
    Apefly second-instar caterpillar
  • Third-instar caterpillar
    Third-instar caterpillar
  • Final-instar caterpillar
    Final-instar caterpillar
  • Pupa
    Pupa
  • Freshly eclosed apefly butterfly
    Freshly eclosed apefly butterfly

The caterpillars of this butterfly, like other members of the subfamily Miletinae, are entomophagous and are predators of scale insects like mealybugs.[6][7] The species unlike many other lycaenid butterflies is not myrmecophilous (it has no mutualistic associations with ants).[8]

Subspecies

[edit]
  • S. e. epeus (India, Sri Lanka to Peninsular Malaya, Nicobars, Mergui and southern Yunnan)
  • S. e. dilama (Moore, 1878) (Taiwan)
  • S. e. fangola (Kheil, 1884) (Sumatra, Nias, possibly Borneo)
  • S. e. nubilus Moore, [1884] (Andamans, Pulau Tioman)
  • S. e. pharnus Felder, 1860 (Kai, Buru, Ambon, Halmahera, West Irian)
  • S. e. semperi Fruhstorfer, 1919 (northern Philippines, Luzon)
  • S. e. strigatus Semper, 1889 (southern to central Philippines)
  • S. e. substrigata (Snellen, 1878) (Sulawesi)
  • S. e. titius Fruhstorfer, 1919 (Java, Bali, Sumba, Sumbawa, possibly Damar and Lombok)

Cited references

[edit]
  1. ^ Doubleday, Edward; Westwood, John Obadiah (1851). The genera of diurnal Lepidoptera: comprising their generic characters, a notice of their habits and transformations, and a catalogue of the species of each genus. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 502.
  2. ^ Varshney, R. K.; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing. p. 91. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN 978-81-929826-4-9.
  3. ^ Savela, Markku (September 25, 2016). "Spalgis epius (Westwood, 1852)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Bingham, C. T. (1907). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Butterflies Volume II. London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd. p. 311.
  5. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Swinhoe, Charles (1905–1910). Lepidoptera Indica: Volume VII. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 234–235.
  6. ^ Nitin, Ravikanthachari; Balakrishnan, V.C.; Churi, Paresh V.; Kalesh, S.; Prakash, Satya & Kunte, Krushnamegh (2018-04-10). "Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 10 (4): 11495–11550. doi:10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550.
  7. ^ Venkatesha, M. G.; Shashikumar, L. & Gayathri Devi, S. S. (2004). "Protective devices of the carnivorous butterfly, Spalgis epius (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)" (PDF). Current Science. 87 (5): 571–572. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Venkatesha, M. G. (2005). "Why is homopterophagous butterfly, Spalgis epius (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) amyrmecophilous?". Current Science. 89 (2): 245–246. – via Internet Archive.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spalgis epius.
Wikispecies has information related to Spalgis epius.
  • Takanami, Yusuke & Seki, Yasuo (2001). "Genus Spalgis". A Synonymic List of Lycaenidae from the Philippines. Archived from the original on June 30, 2001 – via Internet Archive. With images.
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