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Dragontail
15-Aug-2007, 11:50 PM
Dear forum,
I am posting a picture of a blue which I shot last week in Arunachal Pradesh, the Northeastern state of India. This place is near to Myanmar border and have dense cover of forests.
This butterfly was deep under the bushes in damp forests.
Hope seniors and experts will help me to identifying this.

Regards

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/7784/dsc1882webys0.jpg

Peacock Royal
15-Aug-2007, 11:59 PM
:hmmm: I can't view the picture.

Sky Blue
15-Aug-2007, 11:59 PM
probably Flos sp., but need further check.

Painted Jezebel
16-Aug-2007, 09:27 AM
The markings are almost consistent with Arhopala amantes ssp. as far as I can see. However, the colouration is not. It could be that any flash used picked out and accentuated certain colours. There are 3 subspecies: A. amantes amantes from the main Indian subcontinent down to Sri Lanka, A. amantes apella from Northern India (Assam, Sikkim), Type location Mkow, India, and A. amantes amatrix, from Burma and Northern Thailand. The main problem, for me is the postdiscal band- the spot in space 4 is normally shifted out of line, but it does not appear so from the photo, though the hindwing is obscuring most of the line so I can not be sure.

My ref books only go as far as the Thai/Burmese borders, so it is quite possible that it is a different species not found in my area of reference.

Having been wrong several times in the past, I am not prepared to put my shirt on it, but possibly my string vest!:bsmile:

266

Commander
16-Aug-2007, 09:52 AM
Heh... my PM to Sunny earlier also suggested a Flos. But in this case, the geographical region where this butt is found, is out of my area of experience, and I'll defer to Les who is closer to the location where Arif is shooting. :)

Painted Jezebel
16-Aug-2007, 07:31 PM
Arif, I may have confused you by talking about space 4. He is a pic of an Arhopala with descriptions of particular areas of interest. It is just coincidence that the species pictured happens to be the Thai ssp. of A. amantes! Hope it helps.

It will also allow everyone to compare and judge whether I am on the right lines with the ID!

266

Silverstreak
16-Aug-2007, 08:35 PM
Les and Arif,

I took the liberty of inverting your image, so that the markings and lines can be more discernible.

Unfortunately , it is constrained by the image maximum dimension of the forum.

If you want me to concentrate on portion of the wing , do let me know.

Painted Jezebel
16-Aug-2007, 08:43 PM
Thanks Sunny. I think you will agree that the majority of the hind wing is very similar, no need in my opinion to go into greater detail. There are a few small differences, but I do not have pics of the other subspecies, so I can not make a definate ID. To my mind, it certainly belongs to Arhopala Group 1.

266

Silverstreak
16-Aug-2007, 09:14 PM
Les ,

Yes , almost all the markings on the hindwing are there .

Though in fairly bad condition, but can still make out, in this closeup, the marking on the hindwing as annotated.


:cheers:

Painted Jezebel
16-Aug-2007, 09:17 PM
Sunny, I wish I knew how you do that!:) Do not have enough IT knowledge, I'm afraid.

266

Sky Blue
16-Aug-2007, 09:50 PM
Les, what books is that, it's so details !!

Silverstreak
16-Aug-2007, 09:59 PM
Les,

This guy here did not know how to type and felt more comfortable and fluent using pen and paper . When my fingers touch the keyboard my brain switch to neutral.....:grin2: Used to lean on my personal assistant for all typing , she even downloaded all my emails so that I can reply in pen and she type the replies for me!:bsmile:

But times are a changing and old foggies like us have to catchup somehow, I started using the PC and learning to type only 4 odd years ago, and still learning by the day.;P Khew and simon will attest to how autrocious my typing is.

The software I used for those shots is a screen capture software by Techsmith call Snagit , after capturing and combining the images I toggled it to invert mode for the negative effect to highlight all the markings. . Here is the link , go download a trial copy and play with it. http://www.techsmith.com/

:cheers:

Painted Jezebel
16-Aug-2007, 10:04 PM
Butterflies of Thailand by Pisuth Ek-Amnuay. Good photos (better than C&P4 and more of them), but terrible species descriptions and appalling English! I think SK has a copy, he can tell you where he got it from in Singapore.

I always use a combination of C&P, Ek-Amnuay and Pinratana and sometimes Google when making ID decisions. Unfortunately, it makes for a very cluttered desk!

266

Silverstreak
16-Aug-2007, 10:11 PM
SC,

I heard Steven Neo is up in Thailand and Khew has requested for a few copies to be brought back.....................I have reserved a copy.;-)

Painted Jezebel
16-Aug-2007, 10:25 PM
Thanks Soon Chye for the info.

I hope Steven has been working out. Its a hefty tome! If he's flying, he'd better check his luggage weight limit as well.

Commander
16-Aug-2007, 10:27 PM
Heh... Steven Neo is back in Singapore. Unfortunately, he only got me a copy (must be the weight!) Looks like we'll have to do some ordering from Thailand for more copies. According to Steven, Pisuth is coming up with a "corrected" copy after he received a lot of comments from enthusiasts.

Sky Blue
16-Aug-2007, 10:30 PM
Ok Sunny, Thanks for the tips. I shall PM Khew in no time :bsmile:

For screen capture software, I'm using FastStone Capture version 4.6 (it's free for Home user), but the latest version no longer free. It work almost no different compare to Snag-It. PM me if you need a copy. I used it to capture the long screen for the "book".

Silverstreak
18-Aug-2007, 01:33 AM
There is a internet link for ordering :

Butterflies of Thailand by Pisuth Ek-Amnuay

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=28834

Khew,

Any idea how much Steven Neo paid for your copy?

Painted Jezebel
18-Aug-2007, 08:24 AM
Before anyone rushes off and orders one from this site, I ought to tell you that I paid approx S$60 for my copy on Samui. US$135 seems extremely high!

266

Silverstreak
18-Aug-2007, 08:44 AM
Thank you Les!

Anyone wanna go KS?:bsmile:

Commander
18-Aug-2007, 09:35 AM
Thank you Les!

Anyone wanna go KS?:bsmile:

Steven bought it from Thailand and he said he'd even get it autographed by Pisuth himself, cos he met the man, so I don't suppose it'll be that mail order price - even if it may be a little more expensive.

Yes, I'm quite tempted to make a trip to KS. My colleague is up there today celebrating her daughter's wedding. Must be a special beach party. :)

Dragontail
18-Aug-2007, 04:56 PM
Thanks Sunny, Les, Khew and others and I am sorry for late responding.
I throughly and with a keen interest read all the post discussions. I am totally floored by your sincere efforts, deep knowledge and helping attitude. This all stuff is just amazing. I am not in the deep of this science and a late starter also so I have copied and shown the discussions and methodology to some of my friends in India and they all are sunned by this kind of seriousness for the subject.

I am dead sure that I have landed to a wonderful forum where I can learn a lot in time to come.