Miletus chinensis longeana
# Miletus chinensis longeana

Miletus chinensis longeana, or Long's brownie, is a small but striking subspecies of butterfly found in India and Myanmar that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

## Range

It ranges from Manipur in India to Myanmar.

## Status

This subspecies is reported as not being rare by William Harry Evans and as rare as per Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth.

## Description

A small butterfly, 30 to 38 mm in wingspan. The upper forewing in both sexes has a prominent curved white discal band; the lower spots composing it are separate and sometimes coalesced in female. The apical area of the upper forewing is darker than the basal area. The dry-season form of the butterfly is white above except for the apex and a discal brown patch of the forewing and the costa on the hindwing.

## Taxonomy

The butterfly was earlier known as Gerydus longeana de Nicéville. It was formerly treated as a species, but is now regarded as a subspecies of Miletus chinensis.

## Cited references

* ↑ Page on Markku Savela's site for genus Miletus (Lycaenidae).
* ↑ Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Miletus chinensis longeana​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. . Retrieved 21 April 2018.
* 1 2 3 4 Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 211, ser no H5.4.
* 1 2 3 4 Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 254. ISBN 978-8170192329.
