Samui 2012

[Painted Jezebel]

This is supposedly going to be a weekly update of species seen on the Island. The first 3 days of the year were very wet and windy, so ~I did not go out. However, since then the sun has shown herself, and I was hopeful that some interesting species may now be appearing as we are approaching the best time of the year for butts. Sadly, I have been disappointed. Very little flying at the moment.

1&2) Famagana alsulus. This species is not supposed to be here, being found generally from the Philippines to Australia. However, it has been found at Nakhon Sri Thammarat (once), a single coconut plantation here on Samui, and very recently on Koh Phangan. I have now managed to find a second colony on Samui, so I am a bit happier about its future as a viable local species. The upperside (male) is the first time I managed this, it is just a shame that it is marred by a shadow from a grass stalk. The problem with this species is that it always flies low to the ground and rarely perches. Even when it does so, it is always in grass thickets where it is difficult to get clear shots.

3&4) Ampittia dioscorides camertes. At the same location as the new Famagana colony, I saw several specimens. This is not common here.

5) Rapala iarbus. This has become quite common recently, but only shows itself in the afternoon. I have been trying to get an upperside for a long time, but they seem to rest just too high up to get a good photo.

6) Danaus affinis. This mangrove specialist is under threat owing to the loss of its habitat. I have only ever found two colonies, one on the west of the Island, now being developed as a resort, and the other on the East, next to the airport which is being enlarged. I had not seen this species last year so was worried about its continued existance. Fortunately, I saw a couple last week, including an ovipositing female.

[Peacock Royal]

Danaus affinis is beautiful. Hope it continues to survive in Samui.

[moloch]

Hello Les,

Your shots are very nice. It is interesting to me to hear that the Danaus affinis is a mangrove specialist on Samui. Here in Australia, I see it in a variety of habitat ranging from eucalyptus savannah to freshwater swamps.

Regards,
David

[Painted Jezebel]

Hello Les,

Your shots are very nice. It is interesting to me to hear that the Danaus affinis is a mangrove specialist on Samui. Here in Australia, I see it in a variety of habitat ranging from eucalyptus savannah to freshwater swamps.

Regards,
David

David, it is not just Samui where it is considered a Mangrove species. It is the entire peninsular, and the Indonesian archipelago. Its hostplant is also a specialist of mangroves and swampy areas, so I can understand it being found in freshwater swamps. It's occurance in eucalyptus savannah, however, really suprises me.

[Painted Jezebel]

Apart from the Arhopala agaba posted elsewhere, nothing particularly unusual this week. Nevertheless, to show I have not been completely idle :

1&2) A nice male Hypolycaena erylus teatus (Common Tit)
3&4) A male Surendra quercetorum quercetorum (Common Acacia Blue)
5) Arhopala silhetensis ssp. indet. (Sylhet Oakblue). Not sure about the subspecies here. Possibly a new ssp. but I need to do more work to confirm certain matters.
6) Hidari irava (Coconut Skipper). I have always found this very common species rather boring, but this one seems to have a nice sheen to the wings, which I have not managed to capture before.

[Blue Jay]

The Coconut Skipper and Sylhet shots are beautiful.:cheers:

[WillFolsom]

Les: How are things in terms of flooding. Understand very bad flooding to the north of you, especially Bankok. You manage to get around easily or with difficulty? William

[Painted Jezebel]

Sorry, William, I seemed to miss your comment. Thailand is a very long country, and, as such, different parts have different monsoon seasons. Up north, it is bad from June to September. However, where I live, on the east of the Peninsular, the rainy season is supposed to be from October to December/January. This years season has not been bad at all, compared to what we usually receive. The western side of the peninsular is different again (May to August).

This week has been very disappointing. Nothing of great interest.

1) Ariadne ariadne ariadne (Angled Castor). Very common at this time of year.
2) Potanthus species. P. ganda?
3) Mycalesis species.
4) I am pretty certain this is Ionolyce helicon merguiana (Pointed lineblue), but the forewing markings look a bit odd, to me.
5) Pelopidas sp. I am clutching at straws here in the hope that it might be P. agna, but I suspect that this is just another P. mathias!
6) This, at least, I know!. Loxura atymnus fuconius (Yamfly)

[Psyche]

2 is P. confucius. Spots all joined together & strongly concaved margins.

3 should be M. intermedia although the white band is not angled in at the top. Spot in space 2 exceptionally large & white shading prominent (differences from mineus.)

4 is correct. The forewing postdiscal band is dislocated into 4 spots.

5 is probably correct. P. agna. P. mathias is greyish ochreous & usually appear dark in photos. P. agna is largely ochreous. This should be male. Compare Monique's female.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you, Seow. I had discounted Potanthus confucius as the spots are not as strongly conjoined as in my existing photos, as below.

[Psyche]

Thank you, Seow. I had discounted Potanthus confucius as the spots are not as strongly conjoined as in my existing photos, as below.

I think your post 8 P. confucius is more typical as most pics eg C&P4 & Fleming show that form.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

There is another species in your area in which the upperside spots are connected, and that between spot 5 & spot 6 also by a tiny bridge as in confucius. This is P. pava It is said to be yellower.
http://www.hkls.org/p_pava.htm

I am not sure how to tell these 2 apart.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

About the only positive difference between the HKLS P. pava and your 2 P. confucius is that the outer margins of the subapical spots are deeply concave in the 2 confucius.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

After the couple of oopsies with Brian's "P. confucius" I thought I better have a 2nd look at some of the other P. confucius.

Your broad-banded confucius is actually a female Taractrocera archias.
The clincher is the crescent spot in the centre of the left hindwing.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

After the couple of oopsies with Brian's "P. confucius" I thought I better have a 2nd look at some of the other P. confucius.

Your broad-banded confucius is actually a female Taractrocera archias.
The clincher is the crescent spot in the centre of the left hindwing.

TL Seow:cheers:

But there is the apiculus present! It can not be Taractrocera.

[Psyche]

But there is the apiculus present! It can not be Taractrocera.

You are right. After I logged off and shut down the laptop, I realised I forgot to look at the apiculus.

Also the there is a spot in space 7, which is absent in Taractocera.
So it is correctly P. confucius.

The forewing of P. pava is almost identical but the key state the spot in space 6 on the hindwing is always present and prominent. Fleming states the hindwing band extend to space 6 indicating it is a large spot.

Do you have an underside shot of this one? Once the ID is confirmed it will be useful to see how the underside looks.

TL Seow

[Painted Jezebel]

Do you have an underside shot of this one? Once the ID is confirmed it will be useful to see how the underside looks.

TL Seow

Sorry, it wanted to sunbathe so much, it opened its wings before I could get an underside shot.

[Painted Jezebel]

Week 3 was an almost total wash-out and 4 has been almost as bad!

A few from the last fortnight:
1) Melanitis phedima abdullae (Dark Evening Brown). I am always on the look out for M. zitenius auletes, for which I have a voucher specimen, but no photo. However, I think I have missed out, again.
2) Euthalia monina monina (Malay Baron) - male.
3) Gangara thrysis thrysis (Giant Redeye). This must be right, but the angle of the photo makes the upperside markings look odd.
4) Jamides sp. I know it belonfs to the Celeno group, but which one?
5) Potanthus sp. I know which ones it can not be, but I have a complete block on this Genus.
6) Baoris sp?

I did manage to see Parantica melaneus planiston (Chocolate Tiger) for the first time since 2007, but I was on my bike, and so did not have the camera to hand.

I had also hoped to find some of the single brooded species which are about at this time of year, but no luck.

[Psyche]

3. should be the female of G. lebadea, since the subapical spots are missing.
4. is J. celeno. All the striae are misaligned.
5 is P. trachala. Hindwing dark spotting; forewing spots indented margins & little overlap between spot 3 & 4.
6. should be Caltoris bromus. Partially pale antennal shaft; 2 cell spots; (slightly ochreous) brown underside.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Blue Jay]

Uncle Les, the Dark Evening Brown and C. bromus shots are great!:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

3. should be the female of G. lebadea, since the subapical spots are missing.
4. is J. celeno. All the striae are misaligned.
5 is P. trachala. Hindwing dark spotting; forewing spots indented margins & little overlap between spot 3 & 4.
6. should be Caltoris bromus. Partially pale antennal shaft; 2 cell spots; (slightly ochreous) brown underside.

TL Seow:cheers:

Thanks, Seow.

Re 3) - Below is the underside. I noticed the apparant lack of subapical spots, but felt that the position of the existing forewing spots discounted G. lebedea, no hindwing pale band, and it seemed too large as well.
Re 4) Blast.... still trying to find a decent shot of J. pura, or another, as yet, unrecorded member of this group.
Re 5) Thanks, I had wondered.
Re 6) I really can not tell these genera apart from the undersides. Mental block here:thumbsdow !

Thanks Brian for your kind comment.

[Banded Yeoman]

the gangara looks like g. thrysis to me.:thinking:

The hindwing does have a number of pale bands, suggesting it could not be lebadea. Maybe this is due to wear nd tear, but the other point that bothers me is the pale apex, which is evident in thrusis but not in lebadea.

What do think?

[Angiud]

In our areas is a almost disappointing time for the butterflies (and for me also the little free time because of the heavy work for the high season ;-)

[Psyche]

So it is G. thyrsis after all.
The 3 subapical spots are actually discernable here.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Still very little in the way of butt activity, but what I am seeing is generally pristine, so there is hope for the forthcoming weeks.

The few I managed to capture include a new record shot.
1) The record shot, the upperside of Thauria aliris pseudaliris (Tufted Jungleking). In 5 years, I have never seen one resting open winged before.
2) The other Ariadne species on Samui, Ariadne merione ginosa (Common Castor)
3) Common forest species here, but I like it, Bassarona dunya dunya (The Marquis)
4) Not found in Singapore, so I thought I would show it, Miletus chinensis learchus (Common Brownie)
5) Another Caltoris species? This looks darker than the C. bromus I showed before.

[Psyche]

The Jungle King is quite a handsome Amathusine. It is rather rare, but when a wild nutmeg tree is fruiting it seem to appear in the vicinity together with Thaumantis species in Templer Park KL, though I have never actually seen one on the fallen fruits which have a powerful scent.
I was surprised to encounter one in the ground of the Malayan Nature Society HQ KL where there is a small patch of secondary forest in a ravine about half a football field size. However, as its hostplant include the very common Fishtail Palm, Caryota mitis, it is probably safe.

It is a Caltoris species with its paler antennal shaft & greenish hair.
A very worn individual with an upper cell spot indicating 2 cell spots present.
The underside is rather darker than in bromus & it is most likely C. brunnea.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thanks for the ID, again. It is actually what I suspected, for a change!

The Tufted Jungleking is quite common here, I must have seen at least 40 today, and I always see one or two all year round. Regretably, it does not appear that we have any Thaumantis species on the Island, at least, I have never found one......yet!

I think the forest vegetation of Koh Pha Ngan would be more to its liking than the seriously depleted forest we have on Samui. Antonio, its up to you!:grin2:

[moloch]

It is nice to see the Jungelking with open wings! Sounds like this is a very rare event.


Regards,

[Painted Jezebel]

Activity has been terrible round here recently.

However, today, though still overcast, I managed a +1 for Samui, though Antonio has found the male on Koh Pha Ngan.

1) The +1 - Hypolimnas misippus (Danaid Eggfly), female. I had been wondering why I had not seen this species before, so it was, in honesty no great suprise. Poor photo, but a record anyway.
2) Because I know SK like this species, Cethosia biblis perakana (Red Lacewing), male.
3) Showing this due to its unusal setting. This female Athyma nefte subrata f. neftina female (Colour Sergeant) flew into my house. I had only seen this female form once before, and not in the vicinity of my house.

[Commander]

2) Because I know SK like this species, Cethosia biblis perakana (Red Lacewing), male.

Thanks Les! And a nice male specimen to boot! Love the reds on this species. :cheers:

[Angiud]

Con..grrrrrrrrrrrrr..atulations for the new record!

Here still a semi-desert and busy with my business

[Psyche]

Hypolimnas missipus have no other subspecies, and so on Yutaka & funet it is left on its own.

South in Malaya, Cethosia biblis perakana tend to have the white lunules poorly defined & so it does not look so fine.
I hope the name Batik Lacewing doesn't take hold here.
Surprisingly, one of its hostplant is the common Passiflora foetida.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

First trip up to the waterfall for a long time. Very disappointing! Things have got to get going soon.

Two species to show, as I am not entirely convinced of their ids.
1&2) Could this be Erionota hiraca? The second photo is only shown because it shows the upperside forewing costa, which appears yellowish, which is not the case for either E. torus or E. thrax.
3) The only member of the alecto subgroup of Jamides, that I have so far found here is J. alecto. However, this specimen was much smaller than usual, and J. alecto is generally considered to be the largest of the genus arround here. Unfortunately, I only discovered that it was missing part of its hindwing when I got home:thumbsdow .

[Psyche]

1&2 E. hiraca.
The hindwing band is irregular, the upper part narrower;apical white extend to termen.

3. This is interesting. It is Jamides ferrari.
2 species with forewing postdiscal band dislocated at the upper end at vein 6, and a completed(not dislocated) sub-basal band on the hindwing, are virgulatus & ferrari.
J. virgulatus : forewing with costal white dashes; orange patch obliterating the white stria above it.
J. ferrari : forewing without white dashes; orange patch smaller & does not cover white stria above it.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thanks so much, Seow. Not such a disappointing day after all!

A +2 day!!!!:redbounce

I was reasonably confident about the E. hiraca, but the Jamides ferrari evansi has really suprised me.

[Painted Jezebel]

It has been a long time since I have had anything worth posting on this thread.

At last, things appear to be picking up. I even saw another Purlisa gigantea!:gbounce: Unfortunately, it did not stay still long enough for a photo.

1&2) I got very excited when I saw this. The markings were nothing I could recognise. Unfortunately, I saw the upperside, and this seems to be an aberration of Duedorix epijarbus epijarbus (The Common Cornelian). Both sides show the same variation from normal.
3) I saw at least three Arhopala agaba a couple of days ago but was unable to get either a shot of any of them, or the voucher specimen I require. So I went back to the same place today and found one. It is inordinately skittish, even for an Arhopala, and I still could not get close enough for a great shot, or my voucher specimen!
4) Shot at the same place as the A. agaba, this definitely belongs to the Alea subgroup of the Cleander grouping. However, it does not seem to have the purplish wash required for A. aurelia, and CP4 states that postdiscal cell in space 6 widely overlaps the cell bar for it to be the other species of this subgroup I have found here, Arhopala selta. Help!
5) I love this species, and it was a very willing model for a change. Papilio palinurus palinurus (Banded Peacock).
6) For the first time for me, a photo of this species on vegetation! Phalanta alcippe alcippoides (Small Leopard)

[Psyche]

The Deudorix is interesting.
Do you mean the upperside also have white patches.
The Oakblue looks to be A. athada since the tornal lobe is large although slightly bent.
This P. palinurus have very narrow bands.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

The Deudorix is interesting.
Do you mean the upperside also have white patches.


TL Seow:cheers:

Oops. No. Sorry, I mean't both undersides were the same, left and right hand side. The upperside, well, I'll have to keep you waiting.

[Painted Jezebel]

The Oakblue looks to be A. athada since the tornal lobe is large although slightly bent.

TL Seow:cheers:

Sorry, but I have to disagree. :) This was far too small to be A. athada. I have come across A. athada, A. silhetensis, & A cleander,( the cleander subgroup) and they are all far larger than this specimen. It was the same size as the species I was looking for, A. agaba!

This has to belong to the alea subgroup.

[Psyche]

In that case we go thru a process of elimination.
All these can be discounted.
A. aurelia - slatey purple wash.
A. evansi - slatey wash.
A. selta - forewing termen convex in the middle part.
A. phanda - postdiscal & submarginal bands close, hindwing.(from key)
A. normani - like-wise.( key)
A. phaenops-like-wise.( from C&P4 images.)
A. aroa. - hindwing spot 6 wide at top/much narrower at bottom.

This leaves 2 A. sublustris & A milleri, which are very similar.
This one looks lke A. sublustris.
reason: Both examples of A.milleri in C&P4 & Fleming have hindwing spot 6 wider at top & narrower at bottom.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you so much. The explainations for each were very clear. I was able to see what you mean from these. The trouble with C&P4's keys is no. 130 which requires sighting of the upperside before progressing any further.

This location looks highly uninviting, butterfly wise, being a very small area of disturbed secondary woodland surrounded by coconut plantations and a few small houses. Yet here I have found A. agaba, Matapa cresta, Bindahara phocides and now, the ?A. sublustris?!

Memo to self... never discount any location, however unlikely it looks!

[Psyche]

My concern is that spot 6 & 7 have sinuous margins and this is fairly often seen in the cleander subgroup. I have not seen alea members with such spots.
Also the tornal lobe is definitely more prominent.
Here in the checklist the pic by Nelson matches yours in spot 6 & 7.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist%20V2/CI/index.php/start-page/startpage/showbutterfly/137

The only thing going against athada is that typically in athada. the striae are bright (almost golden) in the dorsal(inner margin) region.

It will be prudent to keep in mind a dwarf A. athada.
The picture will be clearer once more individuals are shot.

TL Seow:cheers:

[moloch]

Looks like you are coming up with some very good finds, Les. Good luck with the Purlisa gigantea. I hope to see shots of this before too long!

As always, I am awed by the detailed knowledge that you guys have of these difficult to identify butterflies. It is just amazing to me to see how you guys sort out the species.

Regards,

[Painted Jezebel]

It will be prudent to keep in mind a dwarf A. athada.
The picture will be clearer once more individuals are shot.

TL Seow:cheers:

I am keeping it in mind. That is why I put ?? alongside the A. sublustris in my earlier comment, and why I am not adding it to my website at present. Whichever, it would be a new species for Samui.

[Psyche]

I am keeping it in mind. That is why I put ?? alongside the A. sublustris in my earlier comment, and why I am not adding it to my website at present. Whichever, it would be a new species for Samui.

I am surprised that athada is also unrecorded from KS.
Because the tornal lobe thing can be quite a headache, I am wondering where the size is not known or uncertain there must be a fair bit of mixup between the alea subgroup & especially A. athada.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

After looking at the tornal lobes of A silhetensis (easiest to ID correctly) I have to agree with you the prominence of the lobe is pretty subjective.

Also the ID features I have given for the various alea sg. members are not entirely correct since they are taken out of context from the key.
However, certain features are useful.
1. Barring some individual variations, all alea sg. members have the postdiscal & submarginal band close , almost touching in space 2 on the forewing; on the hindwing in space 3 & 4. The exception is A. aroa.
2. Spot 6 is wider at the top, & narrower at the bottom, most pronounced in A. aroa. The exceptions are ,A. phanda- quadrate, A. normani- almost quadrate, A. aurelia- rounded.

The 3rd complimentary ID feature for the cleander sg. is that the postdiscal & submarginal bands are fairly well separate in space 3 & 4 on the hindwing.
On the forewing this is very clear in space 2, but alas, can only be seen on a set specimen.

On a hunch I checked out the A. athada pics on the checklist, & there are 2 pics by James & Terry which are different from the rest.
1. The postdiscal & submarginal band are very close in space 3 & 4.
2. Spot 6 is wider at top & narrower at bottom, without sinuous margins.
3. The white tips on the tails are longer.

I think they are alea sg members which explains why this group is unrepresented in the Checklist.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

On checking my alea sg pics, I think I may have an A. athada without realising it, but it is an awful photo!

I am certainly moving towards a small specimen of A. athada for the one I recently posted. The forewing gap you mention seems, to me, too wide for the alea sg.

[Painted Jezebel]

I had to go to immigration today, to get my re-entry permit for my forthcoming trip. I had an hour free whilst they did their mountainous amount of paperwork, so I went back to the agaba,?athada? spot to try for my voucher specimens (failed again). I'm glad it was only an hour, it is soooooo hot here, I do not think I could have lasted much longer!

Whilst I saw the Arhopala athada again, it was deeply entrenched inside vegetation. Things are definitely picking up. I saw 5 Arhopala spp, 3 Rapala spp, Catapaecilma major, Tajuria cippus and several other Theclini.

1) The pick of the hour, Arhopala bazaloides bazaloides (Tamil Oakblue). This is only the second time I have seen it here, the other time being on the other side of the Island, so I was delighted.
2) Rapala iarbus iarbus (female).
3) Prosotas sp. This does not look quite right for the normal P. nora, but I could be wrong.

4)Whilst I was processing the photos at home, I noticed a small butterfly on my outside window. Knowing full well how skittish it would be I approached very slowly, but it only allowed me this highly cropped blurred photo through the window before it flew off. The hindwing band looks much wider than normal, but I am right in saying that it is Horaga syrinx maenala?

[Psyche]

The only match for 3 is a male Ionolyce helicon although this one have rounded wings. None of the Prosotas have striae lining the marginal & submarginal spots except P. aluta. Note multiple-dislocated postdiscal band on the forewing.

4 is correct. Forewing band narrow & upright (broad & bent in H. onyx.)
A useful quick ID cinfirmation is that the marginal brown area on the forewing is wider than that on the hindwing, while in H. onyx it is the other way round.
Strange as it may seems it is very reliable. The only exception I have seen so far is the Philippine ssp of H. syrinx which looks like H. onyx.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Angiud]

Les, congratulation for the many, new interesting findings!

I hope we'll follow to get more interesting species in our trip to Sulawesi ;-)

:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you. It was the rounded wings that got me confused, possibly the heat also addled my brain!

Regarding the Horaga, I am pleased that it is H. syrinx, as I have much better photos of that species and I can delete this one!

[moloch]

More interesting finds, Les. It is great to see this steady stream of unusual butterflies.

When are you off to Sulawesi? I hope that you guys find and photo lots.

Regards,
David

[Painted Jezebel]

Thanks, David. Leaving Samui next Thursday, but not arriving on Sulawesi until 12 May.

Incedentally, I'll answer your question to Antonio about the temperature here, for the last 6 days it has been well over 100% in the shade, my highest record was 106%, yesterday. Today, thankfully, it was a bit cooler. But temperatures of 95%+ are expected at this time of year.

[Painted Jezebel]

During my enforced absence due to a broken computer, I have not been idle.

Part 1.

1&2) Caprona agama agama
3&4) Arhopala selta - male (identified by the broad margins on both wings)
5) Amblypodia anita anita
6) Suastus minutus aditia

[Painted Jezebel]

Part 2

7) Surendra quercetorum quercetorum
8) Dacalana burmana
9) Elymnias nesaea lioneli
10, 11 & 12) Zela zeus optima - Very rare, and the first time I have managed an upperside shot.

There are others, but I am not sure of their IDs, so will post on another thread.

[Commander]

Congrats on nailing the rare Zela, Les. :cheers:

[moloch]

Great finds, Les. Looks like a good season for you.

Regards,

[Angiud]

Great catch Les! Especially the Lycaenidae

[WillFolsom]

Les: Hopefully you have your computer issues resolved and I look forward to seeing your posts. Always enjoyable. It's been pretty hot here this year... in the 90's and up to 100 degrees F. during the hottest part of the day. I don't mind heat, but this heat saps my energy levels. Chng got a little taste of our hot weather during his brief stay here. Take care and look forward to you images. William

[Blue Jay]

Uncle Les, the last two shots of the Zela are fantastic.:thumbsup: It seems newly eclosed as well.:)

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you, everyone. The Zela was very pleasing, and it acted as a seasoned model. The upperside was particular good to get (even though it was a flash induced accident!).

[Painted Jezebel]

Very short walk today, owing to the fact that, yesterday we had a power cut, and both my TV and my ability to access my remote site on my Computer have been knocked out, so the engineers for both are coming over this afternoon.

Nothing much to show you from today, though I did manage to see both Tajuria species I have here (only the second ever time for T. dominus). Both, however were too skittish to allow photos. Only two here:

1: Euthalia adonia beata (female)
2: A four-line Nacaduba sp. The white markings appear a bit odd to me.

[Psyche]

There are only 2 species in which the white striae may be thick, N. angusta & pactolus.
This looks like an aberrant N. pactolus.

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. It is a match for N. pactolus.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist%20V2/CI/mugshots/Nacaduba%20pactolus%20odon/Nacaduba%20pactolus%20odon%202%20-%20Sunny.jpg

[Painted Jezebel]

Nothing much in the last week, though it has been decent weather. Unfortunately, we have been having very high winds making photography difficult.

One bit of good news is that one of my original search areas, closed to me for the last 4 years for development, has been opened up for me again (I know the owners of the security firm guarding the multi-million £ property!). There is some lovely woodland there, chock full of Arhopala etc.:gbounce:

1) A female Abisara saturata maya (Forest Judy).
2) I think this may be another Jamides ferrari evansi. If I am right, then I know I will be able to recognise it when I see it again! (Not the best photo I took, but this one shows the most forewing)

[Psyche]

1. I find myself terribly confused with the variants of the females of A. saturata & geza.
Should not this be A. geza since the hindwing band is strongly angulated?

2. Jamides ferrari is right.
Forewing elpis subgroup, costa without white dashes; hindwing inner 2 striae(ie band) not dislocated & orange does obliterate the white stria above it.

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. Did some checking. There are examples of saturata with the hindwing band strongly angled & also examples of geza with the band not so angled or dislocated, but I noticed that geza is only recorded from Yala.
Down south, if the forewing white patch is large & merges with the inner white line it is always saturata.

[WillFolsom]

Les: Well, quite a lot of good from a bad situation. That's some nice shooting!

William

[Painted Jezebel]

1. I find myself terribly confused with the variants of the females of A. saturata & geza.
Should not this be A. geza since the hindwing band is strongly angulated?

I noticed that geza is only recorded from Yala.
.

I think A. geza is found further north. I have the attached as A. geza from Samui.

[Psyche]

I think A. geza is found further north. I have the attached as A. geza from Samui.

Yes, you do have the male A. geza there.

The upperside have a white patch & underside white patch larger.
The underside forewing have 2 white submarginal lines. (Only one in the male saturata.)
The two spots in space 1b are more rounded.(more elongate in saturata.)

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

The angulation of that hindwing band appears to vary quite a bit. I think we had quite a bit of discussion earlier when we were trying to establish if A. kausambi existed in Singapore or not. (After a mating pair captured was sent to Dr Kirton for dissection, it was established that it was A. geza after all)

Sunny did quite a bit of comparison of the examples that we've encountered, and one of the features of the female saturata that emerged, is the flared and rather sharp "tails" as can be seen in Les' first shot.

A. geza "tails" are more rounded and less pronounced in comparison as shown in Les' more recent post.

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you, Seow, SK. I had been looking at all my similar Abisara sp. photos, and getting very confused. I remember the previous discussion, but I still have difficulty in being absolutely positive between A. geza, saturata and kausamboides.

[Psyche]

The angulation of that hindwing band appears to vary quite a bit. I think we had quite a bit of discussion earlier when we were trying to establish if A. kausambi existed in Singapore or not. (After a mating pair captured was sent to Dr Kirton for dissection, it was established that it was A. geza after all)

Sunny did quite a bit of comparison of the examples that we've encountered, and one of the features of the female saturata that emerged, is the flared and rather sharp "tails" as can be seen in Les' first shot.

A. geza "tails" are more rounded and less pronounced in comparison as shown in Les' more recent post.

A good observation there, Khew.
I did a check and all those females with the tails sharply pointed are A. saturata.
There are some saturata females with blunted points, but none of the valid geza females have sharply pointed tails.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

Thank you, Seow, SK. I had been looking at all my similar Abisara sp. photos, and getting very confused. I remember the previous discussion, but I still have difficulty in being absolutely positive between A. geza, saturata and kausamboides.


Since you mentioned kausamboides, I was wondering if the ssp. in Samui is this ssp., a relic of the Sundainian form not over-run by maya on the mainland.
You can see the maya ssp. female on the Yutaka website is different (wrongly labelled).
http://yutaka.it-n.jp/rio/8a210020.html

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Since you mentioned kausamboides, I was wondering if the ssp. in Samui is this ssp., a relic of the Sundainian form not over-run by maya on the mainland.
You can see the maya ssp. female on the Yutaka website is different (wrongly labelled).
http://yutaka.it-n.jp/rio/8a210020.html

TL Seow:cheers:

My mistake, I meant to say A. kausambi!:embrass: This is what happens when I type without a book in front of me. Before anyone replies regarding this one, I know that the forewing postdiscal band is straight(er) for this sp.

However, according to both Pinratana and Ek-Amnuay, A. s. kausamboides is only found in the Yala area of Thailand. Yutaka's map also suggests that mine should be A. s. maya. I am happy with this.

According to Pinratana, all three subspecies found in Thailand can only be distinguished by minor variations to the male genitalia, while Ek-Amnuay states that for the three subspecies, they can be distinguished by the width of the forewing discal bands in the males, A. s. meta the widest, then maya with kausamboides the thinnest (a North-South movement). If I lived further south, then I think I would have a 'which ssp.?' quandry. At least, in Singapore and Malaya you only have one ssp. to worry about.:)

[Painted Jezebel]

This weekend has been blisteringly hot!:sweat: :sweat:

Butterfly activity has been almost non-existent, but have a few things.

1) Tajuria cippus cippus - male. Sorry about the boring background, not my prefered style, but inescapable on this occasion.
2) Plastingia naga - rarely seen upperside shot.
3) A Zographetus species. This looks in between Z. doxus and Z. ogygia, both of which have been found on the Island, but I am not sure which one.
4) Potanthus sp. The hindwing looks like the veins are darkened, as in P. omaha, but as I have not yet encountered this species here, I would like confirmation.

[Psyche]

Quite difficult once it is worn.
Looks like Z. doxus because of the brown border on the hndwing.
The hindwing of Z. ogygia is concolorous.

It is P. omaha. All veins are darkened including tthose across the subapical spots.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you. You confirmed what I suspected, but was not sure enough myself. Yet another +1 for this year (P. omaha, which I have always thought should be here), I am having a good year! It can not continue.

[Painted Jezebel]

Blisteringly hot today. Went back to where I found the Arhopala athada, as I had also seen, but not photographed to any degree of satisfaction, two other new species. Unfortunately, neither were seen.

The only thing worth shooting was this, the flash rather overdone! I note that both Kimura and Yusaka have reinstated this as a species, Hasora malayana (Felder & Felder 1860), this includes all specimens from the Malay Peninsular including Singapore. I presume this is because the ranges of H. taminatus malayana and H. t. bhavara appear to overlap considerably in northern Thailand.

[Psyche]

Blisteringly hot today. Went back to where I found the Arhopala athada, as I had also seen, but not photographed to any degree of satisfaction, two other new species. Unfortunately, neither were seen.

The only thing worth shooting was this, the flash rather overdone! I note that both Kimura and Yusaka have reinstated this as a species, Hasora malayana (Felder & Felder 1860), this includes all specimens from the Malay Peninsular including Singapore. I presume this is because the ranges of H. taminatus malayana and H. t. bhavara appear to overlap considerably in northern Thailand.

Yutaka shows H. malayana with blue-green & H. taminatus with purple glaze. I wonder if this colour is constant.

Correction to female Potanthus post 74.
This should be P. ganda female.

As often the female dart shows vein darkening where the male does not.

The female omaha is light. Too much dark shading here and spot 3 is excavated by a black 'spot' at its outer margin not seen in omaha.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1046/1389756516_22b7a1a10c.jpg

The male ganda is very similar except the veins are not darkened.
http://www.pbase.com/lcgoh/image/142059551

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Yutaka shows H. malayana with blue-green & H. taminatus with purple glaze. I wonder if this colour is constant.

Correction to female Potanthus post 74.
This should be P. ganda female.



I attach what should be H. taminatus bhavara, from Cambodia.

With regards to the Potanthus, shame, I will have to delete this from my list. Back down to 339!

[Psyche]

I attach what should be H. taminatus bhavara, from Cambodia.
!

I fail to see any difference between these 2 species.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

You can't? The metallic hues look very different to me. I also saw them live, and they did look like different ssp. or sp.! (both taken with flash)

[Psyche]

You can't? The metallic hues look very different to me. I also saw them live, and they did look like different ssp. or sp.! (both taken with flash)

I tried comparing it to the images in Yutaka.
There is also examples of malayana with the marginal areas browner.
One in Khew's book look like this though this malayana is from Thailand.
http://blog-imgs-19.fc2.com/s/p/a/spatica/20111006-4.jpg

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. The ID is probably correct, just that these 2 differs only in colour, that of taminatus being darker steely blue & less reflective.

H. taminatus from India.
ssp. taminatus
http://www.ifoundbutterflies.net/images/stories/HasoraTaminatus/05HasoraTaminatus_RohanLovalekar_ab158.jpg
ssp. bhavara.
http://www.ifoundbutterflies.net/images/stories/HasoraTaminatus/HasoraTerminatus_KrushnameghKunte_ah937.jpg

H. malayana from Malaya.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_aYeeLpP4qmg/TcUJipI2uLI/AAAAAAAACwk/ee_FgsTj5EY/Hasora%20taminatus%20malayana-MYFHRaub_20110501_D0630-1024%5B3%5D.jpg

[Painted Jezebel]

Visited a new area today, in the remote hope that I may see one or more of the 'new 6'. Unfortunately no luck in that respect, no suprise there. I did, however see some of the rarer species here, including The Plane and Tajuria dominus, neither of which could I get anywhere close enough for a decent photo.

A couple for you:

1) Euripus nyctelius nyctelius (Courtesan) - male. I usually only see this in Feb-March, after the rains, so this was a bit of a suprise.
2) Potanthus species. It's markings look a bit odd, and it looked a bit too large for P. ganda.

[Psyche]

It is Potanthus serina, the only one with spot 5 half the size of spot 4 on the forewing; also spot 4/5 on the hindwing juts outwards as in P. trachala.

Yutaka & some others have retain this as P. hetaerus.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Angiud]

Mmmmm, I could come to visit you just to take a pic to the Tajura and the Bindahara . We'll see...

:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thanks for the ID, Seow.

Antonio, the Plane was a very worn and tailless example, not worthy of photos. Also, I need to check whether they are regular visitors to this new area (I see them so infrequently), but if so, you will be more than welcome.

[Painted Jezebel]

Went back again in the hope of getting further sightings, particularly as I need a voucher specimen of the Tajuria, (just to be absolutely certain, as there are so many species). Nothing about! So I went further up the hill and discovered a newly laid road that appeared to lead up to a nicely wooded area. It did not disappoint.

Seen, but no photos :thumbsdow included Abisara savitri (not seen here since Aug. 2009) and......Hasora mavis!!!! Check my webpage (http://www.samuibutterflies.com/insects/butterflies/hesperidae/hasoramavis) for the reasons for the '!!!'.

2 I managed to get:

1) Hasora chromus chromus - not seen here since January 2009.
2) Abisara saturata maya - Corrected ssp. Sorry!

Wanted to stay longer but had to return as a) I had no water and b) I am doing my shopping this afternoon:thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow .

[Angiud]

Wow Les, congratulation for the catch! I definitely have to come to Samui ASAP!

[Painted Jezebel]

Wow Les, congratulation for the catch! I definitely have to come to Samui ASAP!

Thanks, Antonio. Regretably I missed the best ones. As usual.