Tongeia pseudozuthus Huang, 2001 - False Tibetan Cupid

Subspecies in India

No subspecies are listed under this species.

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

Tongeia pseudozuthus - False Tibetan Cupid


Not yet known.

Previously believed to be endemic to Chayu and Lower Chayu, Chayu County, SE Tibet, a region that borders the Upper Dibang Valley and Anjaw Districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Huang (2001) remarked that South (1913) misidentified the specimens collected by F. M. Bailey in 1911 in Chayu as Everes xuthus* and Everes ion. South (1913) also identified E. ion from Kahao and E. xuthus* from Minzong. Both these places are in Anjaw District, Arunachal Pradesh, and South identifications of these specimens need to be checked.

The Indian record was collected on the 16 August 1987, at approx. 1,067 m asl, Ithun Valley, Upper Dibang Valley District, Arunachal Pradesh, and was initially tentatively identified as an Everes sp. In 2001, Huang described T. pseudozuthus from Chayu County, SE Tibet, and it was in 2012 that the Indian specimen was compared against pseudozuthus and confirmed as that species, thanks to Dr David Lees NHM(B) and Hao Huang.

*xuthus is a mispelling of zuthus in South's publication.

Wingspan: 13mm. There are no similar species in India. In both Tongeia kala (Black Cupid) and Shijimia moorei (Bicolor Cupid), the under hindwing discal spots are round and black, not beige and square. Tongeia menpae was recorded at Laohuzui, Metok, 1500m in the Dihang/Lower Tsangpo Valley close to the Arunachal Pradesh border and maybe separated by the discal band not being joined with the submarginal band. The mainly black under hindwing basal spots are a distinctive character for this species and seperates it from it close Chinese allies.

Flight period: recorded in SE Tibet from end July to mid August. Indian specimen collected 16 August. Altitude: 1,000-2,000m.

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh3
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir UT
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Puducherry UT
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total3

Not yet known.

Evans W.H. 1914. A list of butterflies caught by Capt. F. M Bailey in S. East Tibet during 1913,  The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, v. 23 (1914):532-546

Huang. 1998. Research on the butterflies of the Namjagbarwa Region, S. E. Tibet Neue Entomologische Nachrichten, 41: 207-264

Huang. 2001. Report of H. Huang's 2000 Expedition to SE. Tibet for Rhopalocera Neue Entomologische Nachrichten, 51: 65-152

Huang. 2003. A list of butterflies collected from Nujiang (Lou Tse Kiang) and Dulongiang, China with descriptions of new species, and revisional notes Neue Entomologische Nachrichten 55: 3-114

De Nicéville, L. 1890. Everes kala in Marshal & de Nicéville, Butterflies India Burmah Ceylon 3: 139, pl. 26, f. 181

South, R. 1913. A list of butterflies collected by Captain F.M. Bailey in western China, south-eastern Tibet, and the Mishimi hills, 1911 Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 22 (2): 345-365, (3): 598-615

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Tongeia pseudozuthus Huang, 2001 – False Tibetan Cupid. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/tongeia-pseudozuthus, accessed 2024/04/18.