Lexias dirtea

Lexias dirtea
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Lexias
Species:	L. dirtea
Binomial name
Lexias dirtea Fabricius, 1793
Synonyms
Euthalia dirtea (Fabricius, 1793) Papilio dirtea Fabricius, 1793

Lexias dirtea, the archduke, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.

Description

Lexias dirtea has a wingspan of about 80–100 millimetres (3.1–3.9 in). In this species sexual dichromatism is extreme. In males the uppersides of the wings are mainly velvety black, with metallic blue green on the margins, while in the females the uppersides of the wings are mainly brownish, covered by several rows of yellowish-whitish spots.

Distribution

This species can be found in India, Burma, Northern Thailand, southern China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines.

Habitat

It lives primarily in virgin swamp forests.

Subspecies

• L. d. dirtea (north-east India, Naga Hills)
• L. d. khasiana (north-east India, Assam, Burma, Yunnan)
• L. d. toonchai (northern Thailand)
• L. d. agosthena southern China (Guangdong), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam
• L. d. merguia (southern Myanmar, Tenasserim, southern Thailand, Malaysia)
• L. d. montana (Sumatra)
• L. d. inimitabilis (Siberut, Mentawei Islands)
• L. d. insulanus (Bangka, Lingga, Singkep)
• L. d. javana (western Java)
• L. d. aquilus (Anambas group)
• L. d. baliaris (Natuna Islands)
• L. d. chalcedonides (Borneo)
• L. d. annae (Bawean)
• L. d. palawana (Philippines, Palawan)
• ??L. d. iwasakii
• L. d. bontouxi (southern Yunnan)

References

• BioLib.cz
• "Lexias Boisduval, 1832" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

External links

• The Archduke Reigns