#14 – Golden Emperor - Dilipa morgiana (Westwood, 1850) [Nymphalidae | Apaturinae | Apaturini]

By: Jatishwor Singh Irungbam

Dilipa morgiana, the Golden Eemperor, is a species of butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. The Genus Dilipa have two species; Dilipa morgiana (Westwood, 1850) which is distributed through India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttaranchal), Nepal, northern Myanmar & Vietnam and Dilipa fenestra (Leech, 1891) which is distributed through E.China, NE.China & Korea (Savela, 2017).

Dilipa morgiana is 53-60 mm to 70–82 mm in wingspan. Adults are rich golden brown with a golden-yellow medial and postdiscal band. UP dark brown to black, with bright golden-orange markings, including FW central cell spot, discal spots below the cell in spaces 2, 1b and 1a, a subapical patch at beyond the space 6 and two dots in space 4 and 5 of FW. HW with a broad discal orange patch from costa to vein 1b. UN pale orange-brown, FW with similar markings to the UP, HW markings are obscure (Ek-Ammuay, 2006). The species is a Himalayan species and not rare in all parts of Himalaya including Nepal (Smith, 1989).

Dilipa morgiana photographed by Baleshwor Soibam from Ukhrul district, Manipur.

There are three generations per year, with adults on wing in March, June and from August to October.

Taxonomic position

Order:     Lepidoptera

Family:  Nymphalidae

Subfamily: Apaturinae

Tribe:     Apaturini

Genus:   Dilipa

Species: morgiana (Westwood, 1850)

Habitat & Habits:

The butterfly prefers Hill forests in the altitude between 1,400 – 2,340 m (Kehimkar, 2016). Strong flier and often attracted to overripe fruits and seen often at damp patches (Kehimkar, 2008).

Food Plants:

Unknown.

Sightings in Manipur:

The butterfly was sighted at Shirui Hills, Ukhrul district during February and March. In Manipur the status of the distribution of the species is unknown. Need further investigation.

References:

Ek-Amnuay, P. (2006). Butterflies of Thailand, Vol 2. Bangkok: Baan Lae Suan, 867 pp.

Kehimkar, I. (2008). The Book of Indian Butterflies. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai. 497 pp.

Kehimkar, I. (2016). Butterflies of India. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai. Pp xii + 528 pp.

Savela, M (2017). Lepidoptera and some other life forms. [Accessed on 10 October 2017].  http://ftp.funet.fi/index/Tree_of_life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/nymphalidae/apaturinae/dilipa/

Smith, C. (1989). Butterflies of Nepal (Central Himalayas). Craftman Press: Bangkok. 353 pp.