Hestina japonica

Jong, Rienk De, 2017, Fossil butterflies, calibration points and the molecular clock (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea), Zootaxa 4270 (1), pp. 1-63 : 30

japonica . Hestina japonica (C. et R. Felder, 1862)

Nymphalidae : Apaturinae .

Japan, Tochigi Pref., Shiobara; late Pleistocene, 37,800 BP. Same locality as the fossil of Papilio (cf) maacki Ménétries , see below.

Depository: NSMT (one specimen, PA12228).

Published figures: Illustrations of the extant species can be found in many books on East Asian butterflies.

Fujiyama (1983) reported on finding of the proximal half of a left forewing of which the basal part was missing. The open forewing cell and the branching off of the median veins are quite visible, as well as white patches and streaks. Venation and wing design agree completely with those of Hestina japonica , an extant species widely distributed in Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. If this wing fragment had been found in a spider web, nobody would have doubted its identity.