Satyrium formosanum (Matsumura, 1910) 蓬萊烏小灰蝶

Tags: butterfly | insect

 

  

Satyrium formosanum (Matsumura, 1910) 蓬萊烏小灰蝶

 

Satyrium formosana had been long regarded as endemic to Taiwan but was recently found in mountainous areas in Wuyi, Fukien Province, China. S. formosana is large in size. A long, dark grey elliptical sex patch appears in the apex of the median cell of forewing in males. Adults visit flowers frequently and are always close to feed sources. The description here is mostly cited from Hsu (1999) and Shirozu (1960).
 
This species has one generation per year. The eggs hatch in late March, and adults are seen from May to June. The eggs are laid on the crevices of the tree trunks of host plants. The eggs are white and flat with mesh patterns on surface. The diameter is 0.65mm and height 0.35 mm. There are 4 instars during the larvae phase. Newly hatched larvae are yellow and turn green afterwards. A pair of longitudinal white lines appears in the middle of the dorsal side. The spiracles are white. It feeds mainly on plants from the Sapindaceae family such as Sapindus mukorossii. Young larvaefeed on tender sprouts and mature into pupae under hardened leaves. The pupa is green, and transverse rows of black dots form on the dorsal side of the thorax and abdomen. The pupae are pupa contigua type. Currently known distributions are Fukien, China and Taiwan.
 
Satyrium formosana has been recorded from Baling, Ronhua, Suler, Gauyi; Nanshanshi, Meishi in Taiwan.
 
 
National Museum of Natural Science (The Digital Museum of Nature & Culture)