Arhopala Bin

[Silverstreak]

To make it easier for future reference, shall we keep all the UFO Arhopala in a single thread?

Here is my contribution of UFOs for the last 2 days :

[Common Mime]

Good idea!

This is mine. Taken back in 2005.

[Silverstreak]

Arhopala DKW ( Dun Know What)

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/_MG_2808.jpg
[/B]

[Silverstreak]

Another Arhopala DKW , the last two looks very similar.

From here (http://b-pals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5195&highlight=arhopala)

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/_MG_1785-1.jpg

[Sky Blue]

good to have but underside is unrealiable for id :-(

[Silverstreak]

My last 2 weeks worth of Arhopala DKW:bsmile:

[Silverstreak]

more..

[horace2264]

Adding two Arhopala butts to this bin. Shot in MNT today.

[atronox]

Sunny, ur 2nd arhopala has an atypical hind wing pattern. Does any other arhopala haf such a pattern?

[horace2264]

Another UFO Arhopala from CCA for the bin.
Will check thru the plates in both C&P4 and Pisuth's book later.

[Painted Jezebel]

Well done Horace, The forewing spots at the costa mark it out immediately as a member of the Alitaeus group.

It is not A. alitaeus mirabella, but there is a chance it could be either A. aida or A. ariana. Regretably, I need to see the forewings to be sure. One has a 1mm black edge on the forewing upperside, the other has 1 1/2 mm edge

Such is the difficulty in identifying the diff. species of Arhopala.!

[horace2264]

... The forewing spots at the costa mark it out immediately as a member of the Alitaeus group.



Thanks, Les for pointing out this specimen is a member of the Alitaeus group. This saves me some time in looking up the two references I mentioned earlier.

C&P4 mentioned that of all members of this group, A. pseudomuta pseudomuta (Raffles' Oakblue, species 138 in BC checklist but no pic) is the least uncommon in Malaya. A gray-scale pic of the underside of a male can be found in Plate 66, fig 14. I do find the markings shown in this pic matche rather well with what I posted in post #10 of this thread.

[horace2264]

Sharing further thoughts on the ID of the Arhopala shown in post #10.

For A. pseudomuta, the ID keys in C&P4 (page 272) mentioned that "Underside forewing with a spot at extreme base of space 10 above the central cell spot (occasionally absent on one or both sides)". The Arhopala I shot has a small spot at this location mentioned (see Key A in attached pic).

Other ID keys : "Underside hair brown with markings hardly darker than the ground colour; hindwing post-discal spot in space 6 usually slightly oblique and not overlapping the end-cell bar". Again the descriptions match the Arhopala I shot (see Key B for the non-overlapping bit).

Based on these ID keys, I think there is a strong likelihood that this Arhopala is A. pseudomuta.

[Painted Jezebel]

Having the time this morning to check, I agree.

[horace2264]

Having the time this morning to check, I agree.
Thanks, Les.
Identifying Arhopala spp is definitely a difficult task. Until the day we have easy access to cheap DNA profiling tools, ID keys from established sources like C&P4 are the best we could use.

[horace2264]

Shot this one yesterday in CCA. A tailed specimen with most of the tails lost.
Another one in the Alitaeus group?

[Painted Jezebel]

Definitely Alitaeus group. Looking at your remarks earlier, I can find little difference between this one and the A. pseudomuta shot earlier.

[Commander]

After checking the two specimens that I have from Bukit Timah and Chestnut Drive, I'm quite agreeable with Horace's opinion of the ID of the Raffles Oakblue.

SC, please add the shot to our checklist if you haven't already done so. One more to fill in the blanks! Thanks Horace. :cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

This is my UFO from yesterday.

[horace2264]

Thanks, Les and Khew for nailing the ID for my previous 2 shots (in this thread) as Raffles' Oakblue. :cheers:

[Leopard Lacewing]

Thanks, Les and Khew for nailing the ID for my previous 2 shots (in this thread) as Raffles' Oakblue. :cheers:

Congratulation Horace for the Raffles' Oakblue :cheers:

Cheers!

[Silverstreak]

Horace , Les and Khew ,

Well done!:cheers:

One off the Arhopala Bin!


... and a +1 for me!

[Common Mime]

SC, please add the shot to our checklist if you haven't already done so. One more to fill in the blanks! Thanks Horace. :cheers:Done.

Well done, Horace! Do you want to write a shortnote of this species for our checklist?

[horace2264]

Thanks, Bobby, Sunny and Chee Ming.

Chee Ming,
No problem on the short note.

[horace2264]

Shot this UFO Arhopala specimen in CCA. Looks like it is one of the amphimuta group.

[horace2264]

Another UFO Arhopala. This one was shot in a hill park, a rather large specimen comparable to the size of Centaur Oakblue.

Any clue on its ID?

[Peacock Royal]

Shot this along a sbort-cut trail to MNT. Heavily cropped.
Looks like Sunny's shot in post #3 in this thread.

[horace2264]

Shot this rather small-sized tail-less Arhopala (not much bigger than A. ammon sighted in the vicinity). My guess is either A. muta or A. metamuta, or at least in the same subgroups as them.

[horace2264]

Shot this tailed Arhopala at the same spot where I encountered Raffles Oakblue last time. The underside markings of this specimen closely match those in the plates for Arhopala atosia (Tailed Disc Oakblue) in C&P4 and the Borneo Book.

Arhopala atosia?
9868

Arhopala atosia?
9867

At the same spot, I also managed a much better shot of this resident tailless Arhopala. The underside markings closely match those for Arhopala epimuta (Common Disc Oakblue). I believe quite a few Arhopala shots in earlier posts of this thread are of the same species.

Arhopala epimuta?
9869

What do you think?

[Silverstreak]

Shot this one over at NSPL this afternoon, its hind wing markings match exactly of your suspected Arhopala atosia .

So we can rule out localised variation on markings of the suspect, since this shot is quite a number of kilometers away from yours.

:cheers:

[Commander]

For A. epimuta and A. atosia, the easiest way is to get one and look at the uppersides. These two species have the unique feature of having special scales at the forewing disc. The reflection of these scales give these species a rounded patch at the discal area and would help ID them without much doubt.

[Silverstreak]

From what I can made out of the markings from the oblique angle, this shot is likely that of A Trogon. Mark spotted it and we were tailing it for a while trying to get a clear shot , it has a nice green upper.

:cheers:

[Archduke]

wah.. even the eyes are green. too bad the yellow flash landed smack infront of u, and both took off in seperate directions. at least we have a record now.

[horace2264]

Shot this one over at NSPL this afternoon, its hind wing markings match exactly of your suspected Arhopala atosia .

So we can rule out localised variation on markings of the suspect, since this shot is quite a number of kilometers away from yours.

:cheers:
The match is not exact.

The extra markings on the forewing indicate that the one you encountered at NSPL is Raffles Oakblue. Please refer to post #13 (http://b-pals.com/forums/showpost.php?p=58449&postcount=13) of this thread for the ID keys. My second encounter with Raffles Oakblue was also at NSPL.

[horace2264]

For A. epimuta and A. atosia, the easiest way is to get one and look at the uppersides. These two species have the unique feature of having special scales at the forewing disc. The reflection of these scales give these species a rounded patch at the discal area and would help ID them without much doubt.
From what I read in C&P4, this disc feature is only true for the males.

After having compared the plate pictures of Arhopala spp. over the past few months, I believe besides the disc feature, the underside markings for these two species are also unique enough for us to set them apart from the other species.

[Silverstreak]

Horace ,

Thanks for pointing out the difference , so I got a Raffles Oakblue !:bsmile: Was not sure whether the lack of marking on the fore wing was due to wear and tear.

Headache ! ID these Arphopala.!!:sweat:

[Psyche]

It seems that 90 % of shots of Oakblues comprise of three common species, namely A. epimuta, A. amphimuta, and A. major. It is good to get acquianted with these 3 in order to weed out the chaff next time.

A. epimuta
Tailless; Forewing spot 4 shifted distad (outward) of spot 5 & 6. Note, often only 4 spots are seen of the postdiscal band. They are from lowermost upwards spot 4 5 6 & 9.
Hindwing spot 5, 6, & 7 in echelon; spot 6 between 5 & the cellend bar; postdiscal band fully dislocated at vein 2; often small white dot at tornus.

A. amphimuta
Tailless. Forewing spot 4, 5, 6, & 9 in line.
Hindwing spots 5, 6, & 7 in echelon; spot 6 overlaps spot 5 & away from cellend bar ; postdiscal band partially dislocated at vein 2. No tornal white dot.
Spots 6 & the two outer spots (postdiscal & discal)of space 7 of roughly the same size.Some size variation & overlap with A. major

A. major
Tailless. Forewing spots 4,5,6,,& 9 in line.
Hindwing spots 5,6,& 7 in echelon ; spot 6 overlaps spot 5 & away from cellend bar ; postdiscal band partially dislocated at vein 2 ;No tornal white dot.
The discal (middle) spot in space 7 small, 2/3 or less of spot 6; sometimes the postdiscal (outer) spot is similarly affected & small. A glimpse of a topside brown border will help as most shots are of the male.

Silverstreak 1
1 A. epimuta
2 A. amphimuta-developmental abnormality.

Common Mime 2
1 A. major

Silverstreak 3 & 4
1 A. epimuta
2 A epimuta

Silverstreak 6
1 A epimuta
2 A major
3 A. epimuta
4 A amphimuta
5 A epimuta

Silverstreak 7
1 A. amphimuta
2 A. epimuta
3 A. amphimuta
4 A. major

[Psyche]

Horace 8
1 A. athada
Keys 1, 7, 8, 95, 96, 100, 120, 124, 126, 1 46, 148 (postdiscal band can just be seen to be dislocated below spot 4 ) 150 and 151 ( If not for the dislocation of the postdiscal band, this looks like a perfect match for A. cleander, but A. cleander is not found in Singapore)
2 A. epimuta

Horace 10

1 A. pseudomuta ( already IDed )

[Psyche]

Horace 16

A. pseudomuta
Keys 1,7,8,95,96,100,101,103,113,115 ( Rule out A. alitaeus, and A. sintanga )


Painted Jezebel 19

A. atosia
Keys 1, 7, 8, 9, 23,( rule out 24-group with bright round spots), 45, 46, 50, 52, 54 ( rule out A. lurida- in A. lurida spots 6 & 7 rounded or broaden )

[Psyche]

Horace 25
A. epimuta

Horace 26
A centaurus
Typical large irregular spot 6 & dusky appearance; shaded submarginal spots; noticeable forewing metallic mark.

Peacock Royal 27
A. epimuta

Horace 28
A. antimuta
Needed to be differentiated from A. muta, A metamuta, & A. moorei
In A. antimuta spot 6 is more nearly under spot 7 than the others ( in which spot 6 is more distad, & spots 5,6,& 7 more in echelon). Also note odd-shaped spot 7. The metallic tornal patch is relatively flat with little of the black spots seen in the others. Close to Fleming's L195 Un.

Horace 29
A. atosia
Keys 1,7,8,9,23,skip24, 45,46,50,52,53(rule out A. lurida which have rounder or wider spots 6 & 7.)
A. atosia
A. epimuta

Silverstreak 30
A. pseudomuta
Keys 1,7,8,95,96,100,101,103,113,115(rule out A. alitaeus & A sintanga

[Glorious Begum]

Seow, you are the king of Arhopala. :thumbsup:

[Psyche]

Seow, you are the king of Arhopala. :thumbsup:

Thnx, but my face is turning red.

[Silverstreak]

TL, Thank You for taking the time in helping us identifying these ""headaches"" we have had over the last few years!!:bsmile: ...... to avoid further ""headaches"" some of us actually had refrained from shooting Arhopalas!!;P

Thank goodness we decided to keep them in this ""Bin"" waiting for your arrival!!!

Once again THANK YOU!

:cheers:

[Commander]

Much appreciated, Seow. At last we have someone who can help ID all these lookalikes. As I mentioned some time back, we probably have at least 10 more species that should have been on the checklist, but I had no confidence in ID'ing them with certainty.

Now to systematically bring out these species for your scrutiny.

Les : Singapore is going to catch up with Samui soon! :bsmile:

[Painted Jezebel]

Les : Singapore is going to catch up with Samui soon! :bsmile:

Possibly, but Seow has managed to add two to my list already. (Tentatively 319 at present)

Thank you, Seow, both for the Arhopala ID, although that species was already on my list, but also the Potanthus species, two new species and one wrongly identified by me:embrass: ! Personally, I am usually quite good at using keys, but the one for the Arhopalas constantly gets me in a muddle. After a while everything gets confused and I end up with a headache!:grin2: I am sure I must have incorrectly identified a few and I need an expert to sort me out.

Would it be OK to email you my other Arhopalas for IDing, including my Borneo ones, or is Borneo outside your realm of expertise? There are quite a few, probably too many to post here or send you all at once.
.

[Psyche]

TL, Thank You for taking the time in helping us identifying these ""headaches"" we have had over the last few years!!:bsmile: ...... to avoid further ""headaches"" some of us actually had refrained from shooting Arhopalas!!;P

Thank goodness we decided to keep them in this ""Bin"" waiting for your arrival!!!

Once again THANK YOU!

:cheers:
I did notice there seems to be a pause of a couple of years. I may be repeating myself, but happy hunting onwards.

Much appreciated, Seow. At last we have someone who can help ID all these lookalikes. As I mentioned some time back, we probably have at least 10 more species that should have been on the checklist, but I had no confidence in ID'ing them with certainty.

Now to systematically bring out these species for your scrutiny.

Les : Singapore is going to catch up with Samui soon! :bsmile:
Not a problem, Khew. Good clear pics preferred. Ulps ! I am talking to pros. Seriously though, a size indication is helpful.

Possibly, but Seow has managed to add two to my list already. (Tentatively 319 at present)

Thank you, Seow, both for the Arhopala ID, although that species was already on my list, but also the Potanthus species, two new species and one wrongly identified by me:embrass: ! Personally, I am usually quite good at using keys, but the one for the Arhopalas constantly gets me in a muddle. After a while everything gets confused and I end up with a headache!:grin2: I am sure I must have incorrectly identified a few and I need an expert to sort me out.

Would it be OK to email you my other Arhopalas for IDing, including my Borneo ones, or is Borneo outside your realm of expertise? There are quite a few, probably too many to post here or send you all at once.
.
I'll try my best Les, but no Bornean species. There are many clusters of closely allied spps that I can only hazard a guess at what with much of the underside forewing and upperside not visible. Inserting a Bornean mix into it will put my head in a spin. With Singapore there are only about 40 spp and I have not come to the difficult part yet, such as sorting through the alea subgroup of cleander. I am curious no-one have shot one yet.
Cheers
TL Seow