Eltateha - Eltateha (English spelling) false comma

This butterfly belongs to the order Lepidoptera, family Nymphalidae. It is found in Honshu (mountains north of the Chubu region), Hokkaido, Karafuto (Sakhalin), the Korean Peninsula, China, Europe, and also in North America. Its wingspan is about 65 millimeters. The upper surface of the wings is orange-brown with black markings, and it is very similar to the large-leaved butterfly, but both wings have white markings near the leading edge and the outer edges are often curved. The underside of the wings has a silver-white L-shaped marking in the center, which is where the Japanese name comes from. The color and markings on the underside of the wings differ between males and females; the base color of the male is gray-brown with prominent markings, while the female is dark with indistinct markings, and this characteristic allows the sexes to be distinguished. The larvae feed on the leaves of Japanese elm, Betula maximowicziana, and Pacific elm, and the adults emerge once a year around July or August and overwinter as adults.

[Takashi Shiramizu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昆虫綱鱗翅(りんし)目タテハチョウ科に属するチョウ。本州（中部地方以北の山地）、北海道のほか、樺太(からふと)（サハリン）、朝鮮半島、中国からヨーロッパにかけて分布し、北アメリカにも産する。はねの開張65ミリメートル内外。はねの表面は橙褐色(とうかっしょく)の地に黒色斑紋(はんもん)があり、ヒオドシチョウによく似ているが、両ばねとも前縁近くに白色紋を備え、外縁部は屈曲が多い。はねの裏面中央部に銀白色のL字型の紋があり、和名はこれに由来する。また、はねの裏面の色彩斑紋は雌雄で異なり、雄では地色は灰褐色で斑紋は顕著、雌では暗色で斑紋は不明瞭(ふめいりょう)で、この特徴によって雌雄を見分けることができる。幼虫はハルニレ、ウダイカンバ、オヒョウなどの葉を食べ、成虫は年1回、7～8月ごろに出現し、成虫で越冬する。

［白水　隆］

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