Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 March 2020 | 12(4): 15507–15509
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4849.12.4.15507-15509
#4849 | Received 25 January 2019 | Final
received 16 February 2020 | Finally accepted 28 February 2020
First record of Banded Lineblue Prosotas aluta Druce, 1873 (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
from Bangladesh
Rajib Dey
1, Ibrahim Khalil Al Haidar 2, Sajib
Rudra 3 & M. Rafiqul
Islam 4
1 D&H Secheron Electrodes Private Limited, Kolkata, West Bengal
700019, India.
2 Venom
Research Center, Department of Medicine, Chittagong
Medical College, Chattogram 4203, Bangladesh.
3 Jobra P.P.
School and College, Chattogram 4331, Bangladesh.
4 Department of
Zoology, University of Chittagong, Chattogram 4331,
Bangladesh.
1rajibdey88@gmail.com,
2Ibrahimalhaidar88@gmail.com (corresponding author), 3rudrasajibcu89@gmail.com,
4rafiqislamw@gmail.com
Editor: Monsoon J. Gogoi, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India. Date
of publication: 26 March 2020 (online & print)
Citation: Dey, R., I.K.A. Haidar, S. Rudra & M.R. Islam (2020). First record
of Banded Lineblue Prosotas
aluta Druce, 1873 (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
from Bangladesh. Journal
of Threatened Taxa 12(4): 15507–15509. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4849.12.4.15507-15509
Copyright: © Dey et al. 2020. Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction,
and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to
the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Self funded.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge Kazi
Nazrul Islam, Lecturer, Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science,
University of Chittagong for his cordial help during preparation of manuscript.
We are also thankful to Arunavo Bruno for his help to
confirm identification of the species.
Butterfly diversity in Bangladesh
is very rich and may exceed 400 species (Chowdhury & Hossain 2013), but the
exact number is not known till date. Baksha & Choudhury (1983, 1985) reported 33 species
comprising of 17 pierids and 16 papilionids.
Larsen (2004) annotated a checklist of 236 species. Ahmad et al. (2009) compiled 148 species in Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.
Chowdhury & Hossain (2013) documented a photographic field guide
with 225 species of butterflies from Bangladesh. IUCN Bangladesh (2015) stated status of 305
species of butterflies. There is no
other more comprehensive list of butterflies available in Bangladesh. Habib et al. (2016), however, recorded 146
species of butterfly from Kaptai National Park (KNP)
including Prosotas dubiosa. Hitherto, five species under the genus Prosotas: bhutea, dubiosa, lutea, nora, and
pia have been previously recorded from Bangladesh (Chowdhury & Hossain
2013; Larsen 2004). P. aluta is reported from India, Myanmar, Malaysia,
Philippine, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Nepal, and Bhutan
but not in Bangladesh until this report (Evans 1932; Cassidy 1990; Hirowatari 1992; Huang & Xue
2004; Kehimkar 2013; Khew
2014; Monastyrskii & Devyatkin 2016). Though, new
records of butterflies are being added in the existing list, there is still an
opportunity to explore new habitats and discover around 200–250 species of
butterflies in the country.
The Kaptai
National Park (KNP) situated at Kaptai Upazila (sub-district) in Rangamati District falls between
the Karnaphuly River and Kaptai
mountain ranges (22.50N and 92.330E) (Figure
1). It is about 57km north of Chattogram (Chittagong) City and 12km south of Rangamati
Town comprising an area of 54.64km² (5,464ha, 13,502acres). The park was previously known as Sitapahar Reserve and was declared a national park in
1999. It comprises two forest ranges: Kaptai and Karnaphuli. The KNP is sub-tropical mixed evergreen
forest decked with hills, streams, valleys and plain lands. The area in the landscape context is very
good, but disturbed by shifting cultivation, secondary plantation and human
settlement. Nonetheless, the KNP is very
rich in flora and fauna. The area is
known as a butterfly hotspot in Bangladesh (Habib et al. 2016).
The survey was conducted on butterfly diversity twice a
month from January 2017 to December 2018.
As the study was carried out on butterfly diversity hence emphasis was
given on sunny periods of the day, when butterflies are more active. Butterflies were searched for through the
existing roads, trails, streams and bridle paths.
The observed butterfly was photographed but the specimen
neither killed nor collected. So, the
specimen was identified based on photographic document following the keys
developed by Bingham (1907) and field guides (Chowdhury & Hossain 2013; Kehimkar 2013).
An individual of Prosotas
aluta (Image 1)
was found at about 11:50AM (GMT+6) on 07 September 2018 in a hill stream
named ‘Baro Chara’ (22.5010N
& 92.1840E, 9m). The
butterfly was puddling on small hilly rocks and sandy clay. The observed
individual is characterized by the tail in the hind wing like other lycaenid butterflies (Kehimkar
2013). Moreover, shiny silky brown
cilia, brown tails with white tip, black head and antennae, bluish thorax and
abdomen indicate that the photographed specimen is a species under the genus Prosotas (Bingham 1907). The specimen is also characterized with dark
brown under wings, spaces between discal lines filled
with dark bands in both wings, and discal band and
end cell band joined together to form a black discal
area in the underside of hind wing (Kehimkar
2013). In addition, sub-basal and discal bands in the underside of hind wing inwardly and
outwardly edged with slender white lines and discal
band greatly broad in the middle (Bingham 1907).
Previously the species was recorded from Cachar and Khasi Hills (Parsons & Cantlie 1948) of
India which is close to Bangladesh. So,
Larsen (2004) listed the species in a possible checklist of butterflies in
Bangladesh. The species has also been recorded from the Baghmara
National Park of Garo Hills in Meghalya (Kunte et al. 2012) and from Jeypore-Dehing
Forest in Assam of India (Gogoi 2013). Subsequently, the species has been recorded
from the Kaptai National Park of Bangladesh (aerial
distance: ~266km from Cachar, ~330Km from Garo Hills,
~367km from Khasi Hills and ~575km from Jeypore-Dehing
Forest). The northeastern region
(greater Sylhet) of Bangladesh also comprises some mixed evergreen forested
areas similar to KNP. In addition, the
northeastern part is closer to the Cachar, Garo
Hills, Khasi Hills and Jeypore-Dehing Forest (aerial
distance: ~112km, ~124km, ~164km and ~413km respectively). So, the species may
also be found in the northeastern mixed evergreen forests of Bangladesh. The record of Prosotas
aluta, however, confirms its existence in
Bangladesh after the compilation of butterflies by Larsen (2004) and Red List
of Threatened Species (butterfly) by IUCN Bangladesh (2015).
For
figure & image - - click here
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