About Terinos terpander Hewitson, 1862
Terinos terpander, commonly known as the royal Assyrian, is a species of butterfly belonging to the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by William Chapman Hewitson in 1862, and is found in the Indomalayan realm. It is the smallest species in the genus Terinos, and also has the least developed scent-patches on its forewings. These scent-patches do not start until beyond the cell of the forewing, and do not merge together at the anterior end; instead, they appear as an isolated streak of thinly scattered scales along the upper radial vein. The coloration of the hindwings varies by locality: the distal half may be orange, the anal area may be spotted with white, or the entire hindwing may be a uniform blue. The under surface of the wings is red-brown. This feature distinguishes it from all other known species in the genus, as it is marked with very broad longitudinal bands that have a bright metallic gray sheen. In some forms, these bands are accompanied by pure white submarginal bands on the hindwings.
