A new Butterfly Species of the Genus Ypthima Hubner (Nymphalidae : Satyrinae) from Garhwal Himalaya, India

2007·2 MB·

by  Arun P Singh

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 104 (2), May-Aug 2007 191-194
A NEW BUTTERFLY SPECIES OF THE GENUS YPTHIMA HUBNER
(NYMPHALIDAE: SATYRINAE) FROM GARHWAL HIMALAYA, INDIA1
Arun P. Singh2
'Accepted September 07, 2007
2Entomology Division, Forest Research Institute. RO. New Forest, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248 006, India.
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Thesakraspeciesgrouptinderthegenus YpthimaHubnerisrepresentedbytwospecies, Y. sakraand Y. nikaea,inthe
westernHimalaya.DuringasurveyoftheKedamathMuskDeerReserve(KMDR),Uttarakhand, India,anewspecies,
Y. kedarnathensissp. nov. belongingtothisgroupwasdiscovered,whichisdescribedin thispaper.
Keywords: Ypthimasakra, Y. nikaea, Y. kedarnathensissp. nov., wingpattern,ocelli
INTRODUCTION Forewinghasalargeprominenttwo-pupilledocelluslocated
justbelowtheapexin space 5 andatleastanocellusin space
TheHimalayanFiveRingYpthimanikaeaMoore(1874) 2 on the upper hind wing (Fig. 1). Hind wing has varying
is a species known from western Himalaya and Nepal with numberofringsontheouterdiscal area,whichformthebasis
both the sexes having similarwing pattern (D’Abrera 1985; for identification ofthis genus. They also have striations and
Smith 1989;Haribal 1992).Previously, Y. nikaea wastreated bandontheundersideofthewings. Somehaveseasonalforms;
asoneofthethreesubspeciesofY. sakrafound in India.The in dry season forms the ocelli are reduced to spots (Wynter-
other two subspecies are Y.s. sakra Moore, which is more Blyth 1957;Haribal 1992). Forewinglowerdiscocellularvein
common ineastern Himalayathan in the western Himalaya, (between the origins of v6 and v4) (Fig. 1 ) is straight or
whereitsdistributionextendsuptoKulluinHimachalPradesh, concave;v10alwaysarisingfromv7(Fig. l)(Evans 1932).
andY.s. austeniMoore,whichisrestrictedtonorth-eastIndia
(Assam)and Burma(nowMyanmar)(Evans 1932;D'Abrera Description
1985). Ypthimakedarnathensissp.nov.
During field surveys (2006-2007) ofbutterflies in the Wingpattern(male;wsf)
south-easternpartofKedamathMuskDeerReserve(KMDR), Wingspan:44-45mm.
intheGarhwalHimalaya,Uttarakhand,India, 18specimensof Upperside: Dark brown with thoraxdorsally studded
the sub-groupnikaeawerecollectedandtwo live specimens with reddish hairs which extend to basal area of forewing;
examinedaroundtheMandalvillage(30°27'-30°28'Nand79°
15'-79° 16'Elying 10kmwestfromGopeshwartownofChamoli
district). Out of these, five specimens (three collected and
two live individuals examined were from two different
locations 10 km apart), revealed uniform variation in wing
pattern with respect to Y. nikaea and are described as a new
species, Ypthima kedarnathensis sp. nov. The remaining
fourteen specimens belonged to E nikaea and were distinct
from the new species. E sakra was not represented in the
collections from this area. The new species is described here
based on wing pattern and its distinguishing features.
SystematicAccount
Genus: YpthimaHubner
Commonname:TheRings Fig. 1:Wingpatternofwetseasonformof Ypthimakedarnathensis
YpthimaHubnerl818,Zutr.z.samml.exot.Schmett, 1;17. sp. nov., (Holotype) showing the position of ocelli on the wings.
Thearrowdepictsthepositionofanadditionalapicalocelliinthis
Diagnosticcharactersforgenus Ypthima speciesinrelationto Y. nikaea,whichisvisibleonbothupperand
undersidesofthe hindwing between veins4andveins5 inthis
Smallsizedbutterflieswithocellionforeandhindwings.
species
1
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NEW DESCRIPTIONS
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kedanrnoathvens.issp. .£§CCCCC0s0///33333L 5 o-o0Q3 cl_O0ooC0ZnoQ33L "33"0Q>oD0. =_Q9CE0OZ303_- .-0O°m2C —I0—00v£0EV3Jf0L2E00c8r>Oe 2c0> 0cE0 >0000c0Eo- 1_=0c00O0^^-c _*0000O00>o0n CL0O+IDOI 'C0CgP00COJL 0LC00~OO3 00—000o 0"00 —2fC0c0PooeD £—E000oo0> 'cQ- \0000000c0d3 opcoesltleir.ior Tpo3ocsehtleleriior faatnrnhgoalemle,
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wing
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192 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (2), May-Aug 2007
NEW DESCRIPTIONS
pupilsofocelli silveryblue.Forewingwithanovalsub-apical
bi-pupilledblackocelluswhichisyellowringedwithsharply
defined edges.
Hindwingiswithtwoprominentocelliinspace2and3
betweenv2and v4andan additional veryminuteandfaintly
markedthirdocellusin lc (Fig. 1).Anadditional fourth sub-
apicalocellusispresentinspace4betweenv4andv5 (Fig. 1),
and is visible alsoonthe lowerside ofhind wing at the same
location.
Underside: Brightyellowwithnumerousshortbrown
narrow strigae (quite similarto K nikaea). Forewing has an
oval sub-apical bi-pupilled black ocelli, same in size as in
Y. nikaea and smaller than in Y. sakra. Hind wing with
6prominentocelli.Locationandsizeof5thocelli issimilarto
thosein Y. nikaea,butdiffersinthepresenceofanadditional
smallocelliattachedbelowthedoubleapicalocelli [inspace
4 between v4and v5 (Fig. 1)]. All the three apical ocelli are
connected together but have an intervening yellow band
which isacommoncharacteristicofY. nikaea.Thepupilsof
allthe3apicalocelliforma 135degreeangledirectedtowards
the ‘apex’. The other three posterior ocelli are in a
linear series from anal angle, the tornal/anal one being
bi-pupilled.
The differences between the wing pattern of
Y. kedarnathensis sp. nov., K nikaea and Y. sakra are given
inFig.2anddiscussedinTable 1.ThewingpatternofY. sakra
and K nikaeadescribedherearebasedonpublishedliterature
(Moore 1874, 1893-1896; Marshall and deNiceville 1882;
Bingham 1905; Evans 1932; Wynter-Blyth 1957; D’Abrera
1985;Smith 1989andHaribal 1992).
MATERIALEXAMINED
Holotype: Male,india: Uttarakhand,KMDR,Mandal,
1,700 m above msl, 25.vii.2006. Coll. Arun P. Singh, Type
material in ‘National Forest InsectCollection’, Entomology
Division,ForestResearchInstitute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand,
India;underAccessionNo. NFIC-FRI-21,800.
Paratypes:Uttarakhand:Mandalvillage(1,600-1,800m):
1 male.26.ix.2006-29.ix.2006and 1 male4.x.2007;Coll AmnP.
Singh;wingspan:44-45-mm.Typematerial in ‘NationalForest
Insect Collection’, Entomology Division, Forest Research
Institute,Dehradun,Uttarakhand, India;underAccessionNo.
NFIC-FRI-21,800. Fig.2: Undersidewingpatternsof Ypthimasakra, Y. nikaeaand
Etymology:Thespeciesisnamedafteritstypelocality Y. kedarnathensissp. nov.,depictingvariationinshape,structure
-KedarnathMuskDeerReservewhereMt.Kedamath(6,838 andlocationofapicalocellionhindwing
m),the highest peak in the area, is situated in this Reserve.
occasionsJuly26-29,2006,September26-29,2006andOctober
HabitsandHabitat 3-8,2007.Itwasnotrepresentedinthecollectionsduringthe
The species was recorded from KMDR on three wintersurvey(November2006-December2, 2006)whenit
1 Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (2), May-Aug 2007 193
NEW DESCRIPTIONS
wasprobablyhibernating. Duringthewetseasonindividuals surveysconductedinGarhwalandKumaon(RoseandSharma
wereobservedflying low,closetothe ground nearthe forest 1998)didnotreveal thepresenceofsuchanapicalocellusin
edgeandinopeningsinsidemixedtreestandsofsub-tropical the hind wing in any of the species of Ypthima. These
and moist temperate vegetation dominated by Quercus specimenscollectedfromtwodifferent locationsrepresenta
leucotrichophora and Rhododendron arboreum between newspecies.Asatotalofsixdistinctocelliarepresentonthe
1,600-1,800m. lowersideofthehindwingofthisspecies,itcanbecommonly
namedthe 'GarhwalSixRing’.
RelativeAbundance
As many as five individuals of Y. kedarnathensis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
sp. nov. were identified from a total of 18 individuals of the
sakra species group examined in the area. This species was Thepresentstudyispartofaproject(FRI-348/FED-23)
relativelyuncommoninrelationto Y. nikaeafoundinthearea. on 'ButterflydiversityinmoisttemperateforestsofGarhwal:
Evaluatingspeciesofconservationpriorityandindicatortaxa
DISCUSSION of habitat disturbance’ being carried out by Entomology
Division, Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, India
Thenew speciesdescribediscloselyalliedto Y. nikaea and funded by the Indian Council ofForestry Research and
butdiffersfromitmainlyinthepresenceofanadditional third Education. I am thankful to the Director (FRI) and Head,
apical ocellus between v4 and v5 on the hind wing, which is Entomology Division (FRI) for extending support and
alsovisibleontheuppersideofhindwingatthesamelocation. providing facilities.Thanks are alsodue to Mr. B.C. Pandey
Thepresenceofthethirdapicalocellushasnotbeenreported, and Mr. R. Kumar (Technical Assistants, Entomology
sofar,fromanywhereintheHimalaya.Eventherecentbutterfly Division)forhelpinfieldwork.
Bingham, C.T. (1905): FaunaofBritish India. Butterflies Vol. I Taylor Moore,F.(1874): DescriptionofnewAsiaticLepidoptera.Proceedings
and Francis. London. Pp. 137-138. oftheZoological Society London.TaylorandFrancis, London.
D’Abrera, B. (1985): Butterflies of the Oriental Region. Part II Pp. 567.
(Nymphalidae, Satryridae and Amathusiidae). Hill House, Moore, F. (1893-1896): Lepidoptera Indica. Vol II. (Family:
Victoria, Australia. Pp. 295-534. Nymphalidae). Lovell Reeve Co. Ltd., London. Pp. 68-69.
Evans, W.H. (1932): The Identification of Indian Butterflies. 2nd ed. Rose,H.S.&N.Sharma(1998):Twonewspeciesofthegenus Ypthima
Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. 464 pp. Hubner from the west and north-west Himalaya, India
Haribal, M. (1992): The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their (Lepidoptera: Papilionidea: Satyndae). Geobios New Reports
Natural History. Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation. 17(2): 105-112.
Sikkim. 217 pp. Smith,C. (1989). ButterfliesofNepal (Central Himalayas). Craftsman
Marshall, G.F.L. & L. de Niceville (1882): Butterflies of India, Press, Bangkok. 352 pp.
Burma and Ceylon. Vol. I. Calcutta Central Press. Calcutta. Wynter-Blyth,M.A.(1957):ButterfliesoftheIndianRegion.Bombay
Pp. 232-233. Natural History Society. 523 pp.
194 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (2), May-Aug 2007