Doubt about this Amathusia adult?

[horace2264]

In this Palm King adult, the 4th band from base in HW does not look like that usually found in Amathusia phidippus.
Could this be a different species?

28225

28226

[Psyche]

This is likely to be Amathusia friderici.
The HW 4th dark band is strongly notched by the veins.
http://beyondnostalgia.livedoor.blog/archives/8820190.html

Amathusia phidippus have this band entire & un-notched.
https://m.singapore.biodiversity.online/species/A-Arth-Hexa-Lepidoptera-000251

All other species have some degreeof notchings.
Some can IDed by other features.

eg A. perakana have the 4th band partially broken into separate spot & the FW is sharp.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/618/21566964039_b2ac383a60_b.jpg
A. masina is reddish & have the FW postdiscal band solid brown without the whitish colour break seen in all other species.
http://www.samuibutterflies.com/02_images/travels/amathusinae/amathusiamasinamalaya.v.jpg

The hostplant is the widely cultivated oil-palm & the butterfly is said to be common in some places.
Form utana which is very dark was formerly thought to be a separate species.


TL Seow: Cheers.

[horace2264]

Many thanks, Dr Seow, for the species ID suggestion.
The common name for Amathusia friderici is Bi-color Haired Palm King. I suppose this means that we can examine the abdominal hairs to confirm the ID?

[Psyche]

Many thanks, Dr Seow, for the species ID suggestion.
The common name for Amathusia friderici is Bi-color Haired Palm King. I suppose this means that we can examine the abdominal hairs to confirm the ID?

If you can get a male, that would be great.
The abdominal hair tufts have the upper hairs dark brown & the lower hairs light yellowish.
That would be absolute confirmation.


TL Seow: Cheers.

[horace2264]

If you can get a male, that would be great.
The abdominal hair tufts have the upper hairs dark brown & the lower hairs light yellowish.
That would be absolute confirmation.


TL Seow: Cheers.

Thanks for the info that it is a male feature. :) More work needed to be done to confirm this species. :sweat:

[horace2264]

I had one male Palm King eclosed the other day with a video taken of the process. I think this one is a phidippus. I could see tuffs of hairs on the abdomen as the male emerged from the pupal case (see pics below).
Are these the abdomen hair tuffs which we should check for the bi-colored appearance in the Amathusia frederici ?

28227

28228

[Psyche]

Post 6.

Yes, those are the abdominal hair tufts.
The hair tufts are described in the set position.
So the upper ones are the ones nearer the thorax, & the lower ones towards the abdominal tip.
Probably the two upper sets are brown & the two lower sets are buff.

Here all four sets are light brownish.
Definitely A. phidippus.


TL Seow: Cheers.

[horace2264]

Post 6.

Yes, those are the abdominal hair tufts.
The hair tufts are described in the set position.
So the upper ones are the ones nearer the thorax, & the lower ones towards the abdominal tip.
Probably the two upper sets are brown & the two lower sets are buff.

Here all four sets are light brownish.
Definitely A. phidippus.


TL Seow: Cheers.

Many thanks, Dr Seow, for the confirmation regarding the hair tuffs and the species ID.

[horace2264]

Another Amathusia adult. Is the HW 4th dark band considered notched?

28239

28240

[Psyche]

Post 9.

This would be considered notched, but there is much variation.
Even some phidippus may have some mild notchings.

It is necessary to established confirmed examples of A. friderici for future reference.
Only the bicolored hair tufts is affirmative.


TL Seow; Cheers.

[horace2264]

Many thanks, Dr Seow.
More work needs to be done to confirm A.friderici. :sweat:

[horace2264]

Two more males eclosed today. Both have their 4th dark band in HW notched at the veins.

28241
28242

[horace2264]

Continued from the previous post.

For the 1st male, I was able to take pics of the abdominal hair tuffs.

28243

Close-up of the hair tuffs from the side.
28244

The hair tuffs are definitely not unicolorous.

[Psyche]

This gets very confusing as the individual hairs are also bicolored.

I am quite sure there is an error in the key, a typo error.
The line in the key should read.

' Abdominal hair tufts bicoloured.; the upper hairs yellowish buff ;the lower hairs greyish brown.'

This will then make sense.
If you have a ventral view of the abdomen as below this will be easier to see.

ie, ideal view of hair tufts.
28245

Male A. phidippus.
Zoom in the Underside image. The abdominal hair-tufts can be seen. they are mostly yellowish.
https://singapore.biodiversity.online/species/A-Arth-Hexa-Lepidoptera-000251?imageId=2


TL Seow: Cheers.

PS. Possibly there may be a 3rd species.
Both observations are of the same individual.
The HW 4th band broken through at several points suggest A. perakana.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143352856
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143338434

A. perakana. HW 4th band broken thru.
FW sharp (?male only) & FW lower margin (dorsum) bowed .
https://thaibutterflies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Amathusia-perakana.jpg
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6648154

[horace2264]

Thanks Dr Seow for the illustration and the suggestion of a 3rd species. :grin2:

We can wait for the pics of the set specimens to verify the coloration of the hair tuffs once the specimens are ready for photo-taking.

[Commander]

I did a quick ventral shot of the hair tufts from the specimen Horace passed to me.

28246

[Psyche]

Thanks Khew.
What the reference text state can be somewhat different in reality.
The colour are not well separated but grades from yellow to greyish downwards.
Viewed from the side it was somewhat confusing as the hairs themselves were mostly bicoloured.

Also the error in the key probably perplexed many trying to ID it.


TL Seow: Cheers.

[Psyche]

Some interesting observations.

In the typical form the female A. friderici have a more prominent orange band than the female of A. phidippus.

This observation shows a female (note narrow notched HW 4th band)
The poor focus may have enlarge the orange band a bit
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/137129383
Compare this.
http://yutaka.it-n.jp/ama/50330010.html

Females A. phidippus.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/137606032
Pity this did not have an underside view.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/103097156


TL Seow: Cheers.