Rohana parisatis, the black prince, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae found in Indomalayan realm.[1][2]

Black prince
Male
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Rohana
Species:
R. parisatis
Binomial name
Rohana parisatis
(Westwood, 1850)
Synonyms
  • Apatura parisatis Westwood, 1850

Description

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Underside (male)
 
Underside (female)

Male upperside deep velvety black, with one minute snow-white preapical spot on the forewing; the cilia of both forewing and hindwing alternately black and white. Underside dark purplish brown, shaded at base of wings and along costal margin and apex of forewing with dark ferruginous; both forewing and hindwing with two black spots in the discoidal area, followed by an auriform mark and an irregular median band, crossing both wings, of dark brown, markings outwardly obscurely and interruptedly bordered with lilacine; beyond the discal area both wings are shaded transversely with dark brown, succeeded by a subterminal dark line bordered inwardly with purple; forewing with the white preapical spot larger; hindwing with a black white-centred minute subtornal spot. Antennae black; head, thorax and abdomen velvety black, dark brown beneath.[3]

Female upperside yellowish brown. Forewings and hindwings: basal half shaded and marked with brown, with an angulated transverse broad brown median fascia and a postdiscal transverse brown shading; on the hindwing traversed by a series of obscure dark spots; on the hindwing traversed by a series of obscure dark spots; on the forewing with three, sometimes four, minute subapical white spots; a transverse series of dark lunular markings on both wings, followed by a subterminal dark line. Underside yellowish brown; markings somewhat similar to those in the male, but more clearly defined. Antennae head, thorax and abdomen light brown, yellowish beneath.[3]

Race camiba, Moore of southern India and Sri Lanka, is absolutely identical except for the constant minute difference of the forewing on the upper and undersides; this has in the male three, in the female five subapical white dots.[3][4]

Larval Host Plants

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Celtis

Celtis philippensis

Celtis timorensis

Celtis tetrandra

Celtis lycodoxylon

References

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  1. ^ Varshney, R.K.; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing. p. 211. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN 978-81-929826-4-9.
  2. ^ Savela, Markku. "Rohana parisatis (Westwood, 1850)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Bingham, C.T. (1905). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Butterflies. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd. p. 233.
  4. ^   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Moore, Frederic (1896–1899). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. III. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 17–19.