anil, your butterfly is the Spotted Pierrot (Tarucus callinara). see
a lengthier note on this species and the species group below. ashok
sengupta recently pointed out to me that i have given a picture of
this species under a different name in my book. these issues will be
sorted out in an upcoming book, and i will probably have pictures of
these species compiled on a single page on the IFoundButterflies
website soon.
At 4:03 PM -0700 11/1/10, Anil Gulati wrote:
Dear Sir
I had taken these pictures in Bhopal on Oct 30, 2010 during the day
time around 1400 hrs in the green bushes near outside gate of Van
Vihar in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Thanks and kind regards
Anil
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:27:42 -0400
To: [email protected]
From: Krushnamegh Kunte <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ButterflyIndia] Pointed or Rounded Pierrot?
rohan, very beautiful pictures! were these taken at chiplun? when?
this is a male Striped Pierrot (Tarucus nara). follow evans's key
to distinguish it from the Indian Pierrot (T. indica, also known as
the Pointed Pierrot). mainly, the fore-wing in the Striped Pierrot
is not produced and its outer margin ("termen") is evenly curved.
the upper side is bright blue, usually with a broad black border
and a prominent, black cell-end spot.
there is another similar species in the western ghats and in your
area: the Spotted Pierrot (T. callinara). this differs from all
other indian Tarucus in having the post-discal and submarginal
markings on the undersides of wings more in the form of spots
rather than streaks, and in having the black spots in 5, 6 and 7 of
the underside hind-wing in line and equidistant from each other.
the Striped and Indian Pierrots have markings more in the form of
streaks, as seen in your picture, and they have the spot in 6
shifted in and very close to the spot in 7. compare your underside
picture with this Spotted Pierrot from palamau national park in
jharkhand:
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kunte/PhotographyLycaenidae/pages/Rounded%20Pierrot_jpg.htm
or from pune:
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kunte/PhotographyLycaenidae/pages/Spotted%20Pierrot_jpg.htm
although the Spotted Pierrot is common in central and north india,
there are very few records of it from the western ghats or from
southern india, so look out for this species. it occurs in scrub
and dry deciduous forests.
remember that the Striped Pierrot (your species) is very variable,
so you will see a lot of seasonal, sexual and individual variation.
various forms had been given different scientific names in the
past, especially two junior synonyms of this species appear
commonly in older literature: T. extricatus (Rounded Pierrot), and
T. alteratus (Rusty Pierrot). the species was sometimes reported as
a subspecies of Tarucus theophrastus (African Pierrot).
your pictures illustrate the distinguishing features beautifully.
could we use them in my next book? these would be great additions
to the Tarucus pictures that i have accumulated.
cheers,
At 9:46 PM +0530 6/26/09, rohan lovalekar wrote:
Dear Friends
I think this is Pointed Pierrot. But i am bit confused with
Rounded Pierrot. Experts please let me know the marks to
distinguish them.
Regards
Rohan Lovalekar
--
Krushnamegh Kunte, PhD
Post-doctoral Research Fellow (Kronforst Lab)
FAS Center for Systems Biology
Harvard University
52 Oxford St
Northwest Lab Room 458.40-3
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Ph: (617) 496-0078
Cell: (512) 577-1370
Fax: (617) 495-2196
Email: [email protected]
Other emails: [email protected], [email protected]
Personal website: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kunte/index.htm
Indian Foundation for Butterflies: http://ifoundbutterflies.org/
Google profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/krushnamegh
--
Enjoy
