Q's Old Skipper Bin

[Commander]

Doing some spring cleaning of my hard disks, and I thought that it would be good to clear some of the cobwebs off my old unknown or probably wrongly-ID'ed skippers for Seow (and any others who would like to chip in) to discuss.

So for a start, this is from way back in 2007. ;P

First one is a brown skipper, perhaps about the size of a Tree Flitter. What caught my attention was the white tip almost at the apiculus. From references, the Halpe have this feature.

[Commander]

This one was from Pulau Tekong. A Potanthus from the looks of it.

[Commander]

This Potanthus was from USR, but the rather darkish appearance caught my attention, as well as the spots in space 4 & 5 are small and completely detached from the other spots.

[Commander]

These are two of the same individual, but the strange lightened apiculus tip is interesting. I had earlier ID'ed it as a Chocolate Demon, but finding it in the middle of a dark forested area in the nature reserve is not quite normal.

[Commander]

After looking at the shots on Caltoris bromus as bred by Horace, this one does quite match in terms of its forewing spots. Shot on 12 May 2007.

[Commander]

One more from the Live Firing Area surveys in Jun 2007.

[Psyche]

1. Hyarotis have similar antennae. The subapicals are in a straight line and there appeared to be spots on the hindwing suggesting H. micristicta female.
2. The veins are lightly darkened. The shorter spot in space 8 and the darkish shading on the hindwing suggest P. juno.
3. The veins are darkened on the upperside of the hindwing. Spotting is consistent for P. omaha female.
4. It is A. nigrita.
5. Two prominent cell spots. There is a diagonal line or brand that runs from the spot in space 2(part of it obscured) indicating it should be C. brunnea.

I believed Pulau Tekong will prove to be a treasure trove of new species once it is accessible.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

Another Potanthus from the LFA survey which I put down as a male P. omaha

[Psyche]

6 have a single upper cell spot; a spot in space 1b. The underside shows a broad area of ochreous; grennish hairs on thorax. It is Borbo cinnara.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

Another Potanthus from the LFA survey which I put down as a male P. omaha

Agreed. It is P. omaha male.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

Thanks for the quick IDs. Still a lot to learn about these lookalikes.

Here's one that I binned as a Caltoris cormasa. But given the recent possibilities of C. brunnea, C. malaya, C. bromus and perhaps more to appear, I'm not so certain of this one.

[Commander]

This looked like an ordinary Potanthus but when I zoomed in on the shots, I realised that the antennae do not have any apiculus. At first, I thought it was the perspective of the shot that hid the apiculus.

A couple of other shots from different angles also show the clubbed antennae, but no apiculus. Are there any other genus besides the Taractrocera that do not possess the apiculus? :hmmm:

The Ampittia comes close, but the markings on this one is certainly no Ampittia.

[horace2264]

This looked like an ordinary Potanthus but when I zoomed in on the shots, I realised that the antennae do not have any apiculus. At first, I thought it was the perspective of the shot that hid the apiculus.

A couple of other shots from different angles also show the clubbed antennae, but no apiculus. Are there any other genus besides the Taractrocera that do not possess the apiculus? :hmmm:

The Ampittia comes close, but the markings on this one is certainly no Ampittia.
Any underside shots? Looks like Taq to me. :thinking:

[Psyche]

Thanks for the quick IDs. Still a lot to learn about these lookalikes.

Here's one that I binned as a Caltoris cormasa. But given the recent possibilities of C. brunnea, C. malaya, C. bromus and perhaps more to appear, I'm not so certain of this one.

This is a beautiful & definitive example of C. cormasa.
Note the rusty-red colouration; the forewing underside is also reddish brown.
The antennal shaft is buff throughout; in bromus it is pale for a short lenght behind the club.




This looked like an ordinary Potanthus but when I zoomed in on the shots, I realised that the antennae do not have any apiculus. At first, I thought it was the perspective of the shot that hid the apiculus.

A couple of other shots from different angles also show the clubbed antennae, but no apiculus. Are there any other genus besides the Taractrocera that do not possess the apiculus? :hmmm:

The Ampittia comes close, but the markings on this one is certainly no Ampittia.

The J mark & lack of a spot in space 7 on the hindwing indicates it is Taractrocera ie. T. archias.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

Another one of the Caltoris? This one took off after the 2nd flash.

[Psyche]

Another one of the Caltoris? This one took off after the 2nd flash.

Am I seeing things? This also seems to have a brand on the forewing as for C. brunnea.
I need to take a look at Horace male bromus.

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. It is a brand in the right place & position. This makes 2 confirmed C. brunnea.

[Commander]

I was taking a look at one of my specimens that look like this one, and there is a crescent shaped brand across the forewing as well. I'll need to take a shot of it for your perusal.

[Commander]

Any underside shots? Looks like Taq to me. :thinking:


The J mark & lack of a spot in space 7 on the hindwing indicates it is Taractrocera ie. T. archias.

Thanks guys. The lesser extent of the orange markings on a typical T. archias threw me off. ;P Here's what I mean...

[Psyche]

1 is definitely Hyarotis microsticta female.
The underside dark bands & colour matched.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

1 is definitely Hyarotis microsticta female.
The underside dark bands & colour matched.

TL Seow:cheers:

Thanks, Seow. We'll never know for sure now. :-( Didn't manage to get a voucher specimen.

[Commander]

Two shots of the same individual at Pulau Ubin with a very much reduced subapical spot in space 8. However, the darkened veins suggest an aberrant P. omaha?

The underside is heavily dusted though. What's your opinion, Seow? A P. juno? :thinking:

[Psyche]

This is a real tricky one.
It actually looks like it might be a cross between juno & omaha.
The veins are not quite as dark as in typical omaha, but the forewing is out of focus. Upperside hindwing veins are not distinct.
There is a fair bit of black shading on the forewing & hindwing and the distribution is that of juno though not so clear cut as in Horace's 2 examples.
After looking at Federick's thread which shows a more typical omaha this should be juno.

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. In looking at images of omaha, there are examples in which there is a fair degree of black dusting & comes close to this Potanthus. However, the subapical spots have the veins more clearly delineated.
There is always a possibility this one have some mixed blood in it.

[Psyche]

After looking at this for some times, I am still uncertain as to what it really is.
However, the one from Pulau Tekong in post 2 is definitely P. juno.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

Thanks, Seow. Looking at all these lookalikes would have made many of us cross-eyed! :bsmile:

I believe the variability of some of the species in this genus is very wide, hence we end up with some overlapping 'hybrids'. Needs a lot more photos to be taken (and better if with voucher specimens) to narrow down the IDs. But I agree with you that some of the shots that we have are highly likely to be juno.