Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2022 | 14(10): 22036–22038
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8056.14.10.22036-22038
#8056 | Received 15 June 2022 | Final
received 17 August 2022 | Finally accepted 25 September 2022
The Fawcett’s Pierrot Niphanda asialis (Insecta:
Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
in Bandarban: an addition to the butterfly
fauna of Bangladesh
Akash Mojumdar 1 & Rajib
Dey 2
1 Department of
Computer Science & Information Technology, Shanto-Mariam
University of Creative Technology, Dhaka 1230, Bangladesh.
2 Amarabati Road, Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata, West Bengal
700019, India.
1 akashmojumdar99@gmail.com,
2 rajibdey88@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Editor: Monsoon Gogoi, Bokakhat, Assam, India. Date of publication: 26 October
2022 (online & print)
Citation: Mojumdar,
A. & R. Dey (2022). The Fawcett’s Pierrot
Niphanda asialis
(Insecta: Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
in Bandarban: an addition to the butterfly fauna of
Bangladesh. Journal of Threatened Taxa 14(10): 22036–22038. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8056.14.10.22036-22038
Copyright: © Mojumdar & Dey 2022. 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: None.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors would
like to thank Mr. Arunavo Bruno, Bangladesh for
species identification.
Niphanda asialis
de Nicéville, 1895 is a
widely distributed butterfly that occurs from southern Assam-Meghalaya-Mizoram
(northeastern India) to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Yunnan (http://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81450001.html).
This species is ‘rare’ in India (Kehimkar 2016). Niphanda asialis
(earlier known as Azanus asialis) was first described by de Nicéville
(1895), based on a single collected specimen from Hofrath
Dr. L. Martin.
This survey was
carried out for three days in the month of January 2022 at Nilgiri
Hill resort area. The area is situated at Bandarban
district (21.18–22.35 ⁰N, 92.05–92.67 ⁰E) under Chittagong hill tracts in the
southeastern part of Bangladesh. This hill tracts range is usually enveloped with
mixed sub-tropical evergreen forest and most of the natural forests. During the
expedition, the first author sighted and photographed an individual of unknown
butterfly species (Image 1) at Nilgiri Hill resort
(21.912 ⁰N, 92.326 ⁰E; 661 m) using Canon 77D at 1230 h (GMT +6.00)
on 21 January 2022 (Image 2). The butterfly was basking about 1.5–2 m above
ground on an unknown leaf. Later, the individual was compared with Ek-Amnuay (2012), and keys characterized by de Nicéville (1895). The observed individual was tailless in
the hindwing (Kehimkar 2016). Additionally, it had
narrow fuscous band on the costa and outer margin at upperside
of forewings, black obscurely tipped with white cilia and a marginal row of
white encircled lunules at both wings (de Nicéville
1895). Moreover, prominent, dark black sub marginal spot in space 2 of
underside of forewings with male shining purple colour
of upperwings provides evidence to species level
recognition (Ek-Amnuay 2012; Kehimkar
2016). Niphanda
asialis is quite similar to Niphanda
cymbia but it can be distinguised
by the following keys. The upperside of N. asialis (male) having violet or shining purple with
sparse presence of androconia, while in N. cymbia,
it is dull purple and lack of androconium. The female of N. asialis is browner with some basal blue scaling which
is absent in N. cymbia (Corbet et. al 1992).
Though none of the species of Niphanda is
previously reported from Bangladesh (Larsen 2004; Chowdhury & Hossain 2013;
IUCN Bangladesh 2015; Roy et. al 2021), but Niphanda
asialis and Niphanda
cymbia are recorded from adjoining regions of
northeastern India (Varshney & Smetacek 2015).
Previously the
species was recorded from North Kanghmun (in Mamit district) of Mizoram state of India (https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/3333343760)
which is close to Bangladesh, and Vanghmun village
(in North Tripura district) of Tripura (https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2540788739)
and Barail Wildlife Sanctuary of Assam (Gogoi et. al 2016).
Consequently, the species was recorded from Nilgiri
Hill of Bangladesh (aerial distance: ~184 km from North Kanghmun,
~228 km from Vanghmun, ~346 km from Barail Wildlife Sanctuary). The northeastern region
(greater Sylhet) of Bangladesh is also home to some mixed evergreen forested
areas similar to the Nilgiri Hill forest. The
northeastern part is also very close to Barail
Wildlife Sanctuary. As a result, the species may also be found in northeastern
mixed evergreen areas of Bangladesh.
The current study
thus establishes the presence of Niphanda asialis in Nilgiri Hill of Bandarban district by effectively presenting the first
photographic proof from Bangladesh.
For images –
click here for full PDF
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