Catapaecilma major

Catapaecilma major, the common tinsel,^[2][3][4] is a species of butterfly belonging to the lycaenid family described by Hamilton Herbert Druce in 1895. It is found in the Indomalayan realm.^{[5][4][2][3][6]}

Common tinsel
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Catapaecilma
Species:	C. major
Binomial name
Catapaecilma major (H. H. Druce, 1895)[1]
Synonyms
Catapoecilma major anais Fruhstorfer, 1915 Catapoecilma elegans emas Fruhstorfer, 1912 Catapoecilma major tyana Fruhstorfer, 1915 Catapoecilma elegans myosotina Fruhstorfer, 1912 Tajuria major moltrechti Wileman, 1908 Catapoecilma elegans sophonias Fruhstorfer, 1912 Catapoecilma major sophonias Fruhstorfer, 1915

Description

The two Bornean specimens (females) [of Catapaecilma elegans] before me differ from Sikkim examples by the central band on the fore wing below being straight, not Y-shaped, as appears to be invariably the case in Indian specimens, also in those from Ceylon, and again from Sumatra. On such slight material I do not propose to admit at present that the Indian representatives belong to a distinct species (they are certainly not typical), but in the event of their requiring a name I would suggest major.

— Hamilton Herbert Druce, A Monograph of the Bornean Lycaenidae^[1]

The larvae feed on Terminalia paniculata.

• 
  Larva
• 
  Larva attended by ant
• 
  Imago

Subspecies

The subspecies are:^[2][3][4]

• Catapaecilma major major (northern India to Myanmar, northern Thailand)
• Catapaecilma major anais Fruhstorfer, 1915 (northeast India)
• Catapaecilma major albicans Corbet, 1941 (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos)
• Catapaecilma major emas Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand)
• Catapaecilma major callone (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (southern India)
• Catapaecilma major myosotina Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Sri Lanka)
• Catapaecilma major sedina (Fruhstorfer, 1915) (north-eastern Sumatra)
• Catapaecilma major moltrechti (Wileman, 1908) (Taiwan)
• Catapaecilma major sophonias Fruhstorfer, 1912 (western Java)