About Thaumantis diores Doubleday, 1845
Thaumantis diores, commonly known as the jungle glory, is a butterfly species belonging to the Morphinae subfamily of the brush-footed butterfly family (Nymphalidae). It is found in South Asia. Its known distribution ranges from Sikkim to Myanmar. One subspecies occurs in Taiwan, and the species is suspected to also live in northern Thailand and northern Vietnam. For wing morphology: both males and females have a dusky brown upperside. The forewing bears a broad, beautifully iridescent blue discal band that runs from below vein 8 to the dorsum, extends posteriorly toward the wing base, and is suffused outward with a brilliant silvery gloss. The hindwing has a similar, somewhat rounded median blue patch with an equally brilliant outward silvery gloss; in fresh specimens, the blue spreads toward the base of the wings. The underside of the wings is a rich silky brown. The terminal margins of both wings are broadly paler, and are sprinkled with lilacine scales adjacent to an inward, well-defined, very pale brownish-yellow sinuous line. The basal five-sixths of the wings darken noticeably moving outward from the base. On the forewing, two pairs of narrow, transverse, sinuous dark bands cross the cell, followed by a similar oblique discal band that runs from the costa to interspace 1. On the hindwing, two similar transverse bands diverge posteriorly. There is an oval yellowish-white spot in each of interspaces 2 and 6, plus a dark tornal spot; the spot in interspace 2 is shaded with brown. The antennae of this butterfly are red, while the head, thorax, and abdomen are brown. Males have a secondary sex-mark consisting of a small erectile tuft of hair, which does not appear to cover any specialized scales, located near the base of the subcostal vein on the upperside of the hindwing.
