Taractrocera archias quinta?

[richardlbong]

I've been through my skipper collection and found these mating pair shots.
Are they Taractrocera archias quinta or Potanthus omaha omaha.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/digimania/Sightings/CRW_9970.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/digimania/Sightings/CRW_9968.jpg
Will certainly appreciate all the help I can get.
Richard

[Common Mime]

Not the Taractrocera archias quinta for sure.

[Commander]

The key difference in the Taractrocera genus is the absence of the apiculus. This refers to the sharp curved 'hook' at the end of the clubbed antennae. In both your shots, you can see the apiculus very clearly, hence the butts in both shots are definitely not from the genus Taractrocera.

[richardlbong]

Thank you CM and SK. Looks like another UFO for me. I check on a Thailand site and there is a close match in Potanthus parvus parvus. Is this possible?
Richard

[Commander]

Searching the Internet is a hit and miss affair. You compare what your search lands you up with.

As I've mentioned many times. Get a copy of C&P4 and pore thru each page with a magnifying glass if you need to do comparisons. There are so many Potanthus that you won't even find on the Internet.

[Commander]

BTW, if anyone is interested, this is a compilation of the known Potanthus species that have been recorded to date. This is at species level, if we include all the subspecies, the list will be a lot longer.

Note that some of the species have just been recently discovered - note the author and date. Some as recent as 2003. (Must get to know this Huang chap ;P ) So there may still be a chance that there are species which are new to science. :) But we are limited unless we have access to dissection facilities and expertise.

If you want to search the internet for pictures of all these species, chances are that you will not be able to find all of them. The best repository of holo-type and para-type specimens is still the London Natural History Museum.

List of known Potanthus :

Potanthus pseudomaesa (Moore, 1881)
Potanthus dara (Kollar, [1844])
Potanthus palnia (Evans, 1914)
Potanthus pallidus (Evans, 1932)
Potanthus rectifasciata (Elwes & Edwards, 1897
Potanthus pamela (Evans, 1934)
Potanthus trachala (Mabille, 1878)
Potanthus juno (Evans, 1932)
Potanthus omaha (W. H. Edwards, 1863)
Potanthus confucius (C. & R. Felder, 1862)
Potanthus mara Evans, 1932
Potanthus pava (Fruhstorfer, 1911)
Potanthus lydia (Evans, 1934)
Potanthus riefenstahli Huang, 2003
Potanthus motzui Hsu & Li, 1990
Potanthus mingo (W. H. Edwards, 1866
Potanthus ganda (Fruhstorfer, 1911)
Potanthus chloe Eliot, 1960
Potanthus flava (Murray, 1875)
Potanthus hetaerus (Mabille, 1883)
Potanthus amor Evans, 1932
Potanthus matzui Hsu, Li & Li, 1990
Potanthus nesta (Evans, 1934)
Potanthus parvus Johnson & Johnson, 1980
Potanthus sita (Evans, 1932)
Potanthus taqini Huang, 2001
Potanthus tibetana Huang, 2002
Potanthus upadhana Fruhstorfer, 1911
Potanthus yani Huang, 2002

[richardlbong]

Thanks SK. I have look at 2 pics of the Potanthus parvus parvus, one from Thailand and the other a Russian site. Both showed pic of live specimen.
Richard

[Commander]

Righto... so when're you getting your C&P4? :)

[richardlbong]

Soon, when I find the time to get to the bookshop.
Richard

[Common Mime]

I think C&P 5 soon?

[Commander]

Not in another 10 years? Col. John Eliot passed away at the age of 92 two years ago. No one wants to bear the burden of a revision to C&P4. There was an update written by Col Eliot and Dr Kirton in the Malayan Nature Journal recently, which revised quite a few things in C&P4 and updated the species list. But that's not quite the same as a C&P5.