Tajuria jehana (Moore, 1884)

Sharma, Neeraj & Sharma, Shakha, 2021, On the occurrence of three new Lycaenid butterflies (Lepidoptera) from Jammu and Kashmir, India, Revista Chilena de Entomología (Rev. Chil. Entomol.) 47 (2), pp. 231-235 : 233

Tajuria jehana (Moore, 1884) (Indian Plains Blue royal)

Current known occurrence until this reporting: India (Himachal Pradesh to eastern Himalayas, north east, south to peninsular India), Sri Lanka ( Varshney & Smetacek 2015; Kehimkar 2016; van Gasse 2017; Sondhi & Kunte 2018; Sengupta et al. 2021).

Remarks. While doing field surveys during a late morning of 3.ix.2020, we observed a medium sized two tailed butterfly sitting on a rocky boulder near Neeru stream, Galgander (33ᴼ07′35″ N - 75ᴼ34′01″ E, c. 940 m), district Doda. The species was photographed and later identified as Tajuria jehana (Moore, 1884) , Indian Plains Blue royal after consulting the keys and field guides ( Kehimkar 2008; Varshney & Smetacek 2015; Kehimkar 2016; Sondhi & Kunte 2018), and the online web resources (https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/sp/513/ Tajuria-jehana). The species had earlier been recorded by one of the authors on 18.viii.2019

from Surinsar (32ᴼ46′41″ N - 75ᴼ02′01″ E, c. 596 m) district Jammu ( Figs. 4, 5 ). Uncommon in India ( Kehimkar 2016; Sondhi & Kunte 2018), the western distribution of the species is up to Himachal Pradesh ( Sondhi & Kunte 2018; Sengupta et al. 2021) and thus a new record for UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

Figures

Figures 2-5. New Lycaenidae records from Jammu and Kashmir, India. 2. Esakiozephyrus icana, 3. Spindasis ictis, 4-5. Tajuria jehana. / Nuevos registros de Lycaenidae de Jammu y Cachemira, India. 2. Esakiozephyrus icana, 3. Spindasis ictis, 4-5. Tajuria jehana.