Abstract
The female and male of Damora sagana, were named separately due to its distinct sexual dimorphic feature. Male was described in genus Argynnis in 1847 and female in newly settled genus Damora in 1851. The relationship between both genders was recognized afterwards by their common wing patterns and then their mating behavior. As a consequence, genus Damora became invalid and absorbed into Argynnis until the end of 19th century. From 1920's, the classification system of genus Argynnis progressed utilizing the characters of male genital organs. The genus was splitted into many genera by Reuss and Warren. Old genus name Damora revived as a part of the Agynninae in 1944. In Japan copulation of two butterflies, having quite different markings was observed in 1870's by Ishikawa, one of the pioneer Lepidopterist in Japan. Several fritillary butterflies were distinguished only by their latin names at first, not having respective Japanese names. D. sagana got its Japanese name [The black-female Fritillary] in 1893, expressing its dimorphic nature. Adaptive meaning of the female darkness is not yet well understood.
