Teinopalpus imperialis

Description See glossary for terms used The following descriptions are from Bingham, C. T (1907) Fauna of British India. Butteflies Volume 2. Male. Upperside black, densely irrorated with green scales. Forewing: an outwardly oblique, slightly concave subbasal band and a narrow terminal edging jet-black due to the ground-colour there being devoid of the green scaling; beyond the subbasal band the irroration of scales a much brighter green, especially along the outer edge of the subbasal band itself; but along obscure, broad and convergent discal and postdiscal transverse bands and along a subterminal much narrower band, the green scaling thins out and the black ground-colour of the wing shows through; in some specimens, owing to the transparency of the wings, the rich ochraceous-brown colour of the underside gives the black on these bands a reddish tint. Hind wing: basal area margined outwardly by a narrow irregularly sinuous band devoid of green scaling, succeeded by an upper discal bright chrome-yellow patch that spreads from base of interspace 3 across the apex of the cell and bases of interspaces 4 and 5 to the costa; this patch is bluntly angulated outwards in interspace 5, stained with orange anteriorly and bordered outwardly by black which is widest above; below the patch a white line extends to the dorsum; the postdiscal area is deep dark green, margined inwardly by diffuse dark grey and followed outwardly by a subterminal series of lunular markings, the tornal and upper two or three of which are yellow, the rest bright green; tail tipped with yellow. Underside: basal area of both fore and hind wings densely covered with green scales. Forewing: terminal two-thirds rich ochraceous brown, the green of the basal area bordered by black; discal and postdiscal bands also black, widened and diffusely coalescent posteriorly; an incomplete, very slender subterminal black line and broader black terminal edging, neither of which reaches to the apex. Hindwing much as on the upperside, but the yellow marking broader. Antennae dark red; head, thorax and abdomen black, covered somewhat densely with green hairs and scales. Female: much larger, differs also in coloration and markings as follows: Upperside, forewings: the irroration of green scales on the terminal two-thirds restricted to a sub-terminal moderately broad band diffuse along its inner edge, and a medial somewhat ill-defined similar band that is bordered both on the inner and outer sides by diffuse dusky black; this is succeeded by two broad diffuse transverse dark grey bands, the outer of the two edged on its outer side narrowly with black, followed by a subterminal green band and terminal velvety-black margin. Hindwing: the upper discal yellow patch so conspicuous in the male, replaced by a very much larger dark grey patch, below which comparatively narrow markings of yellow extend up to the dorsum; a postdiscal sinuous lunular narrow black band and a subterminal series of green lunules as in the male, but the apical lunule dark grey, not yellow; the tail-like extensions of the termen at the apices of veins 3 to 6 are black shaded with green, those at the apices of veins 4 and 6 tipped, the former with yellow the latter with greenish-white. Underside similar to the underside in the male, but on both fore and hind wing the areas coloured with rich ochraceous and yellow are grey, with the exception of a well-marked moderately broad subterminal band on the forewing which is of a dull ochraceous colour; on the hindwing the grey discal area extends right up to the apical lunule of the subterminal series. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male. Expanse: 90-127 mm The larva of this magnificent butterfly, according to Mr. Knyvett, feeds on Daphne nipalensis, but so far as I know, no description of it has been published. I am quite unable to separate the Sikkim form of this insect, even as a race. The points of difference between it and the Assam form are extremely variable, and the most prominent of these, viz. the paler tint of the grey area on the upperside of the hind wing in the female, is perhaps the most variable of all the characters. An Assam specimen of the female in the collection of the British Museum is far and away paler than any Sikkim specimen I have seen. Mr. Elwes says that in Sikkim this insect is only found in the forest region from about 6000 to 10,000 feet elevation, and that "it is most difficult to capture on account of its remarkably strong, rapid and dashing flight, and its habit of resting on high trees from which it flies only during a few hours of the morning" (Elwes, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1888, p.421). The females are much scarcer than the males. I once saw a female on the wing and rather low down, in a clearing on the hill above the Rungarun Forest bungalow near Darjeeling. According to Col. Swinhoe, T. imperialis is common in the Khasia hills in Assam. Distribution The butterfly is found small pockets in Nepal, Bhutan and along the Eastern Himalayas in India (West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim and Manipur). It is also found in Northern Burma and in the Sichuan province of China. Mostly seen above 6000 feet. Status The Kaiser-i-Hind is protected by Indian law and is a rare butterfly. It is however hunted and collectors pay heavy prices.