Hi Seow, any ID suggestion for this one. Same spp but two different individual, size about 1/2" dia.
Thanks in advance,
Last edited by Cruiser; 30-Nov-2010 at 10:35 PM.
Ben Jin
Seow, you might want to look at this past thread (Arhopala Bin) which has quite a number of Arhopala shots awaiting ID suggestions.
Horace
This is a toughie. Too many clues are missing from the underside of the forewing forcing one to check out the alternaatives. I have narrowed it down to A. metamuta, A. antimuta , A. muta, and A. moorei. Its dark colour and largish spots suggest A. moorei but the tornal green area dont match.
Thanks, I have a look later.
Shot this in Central Catchment Area, Singapore.
I know it is quite worn out. Nevertheless, I hope Seow may be able to help.
Federick Ho
www.peacockroyal.blogspot.com
Arhopala agrata male
Hindwing postdiscal spot 7 directly on top spot of spot 6, and a lobed tornal spot may indicate the cleander group. However, there is no spot in space 10 ie just above the cellend bar. Also there appear to be a long blackish line that runs from the inner margin of the tornus across the upper margin of the green scaling. See C&P4 41/25. Topside indicates male.
I have realised that the tornal pattern is not unique and cannot be used for absolute identification. Thankfully, this one is readily IDed following C&P4's keys i.e. key 1, 7, 8, 95, 96, 100, 120, 124, 125 and thus A. agrata.
Last edited by Psyche; 06-Dec-2010 at 05:43 AM.
Thanks, TK. Looks like more attention has to be paid to these little 'brown jobs'. I'll send pics of some specimens that I did not have any confidence in ID'ing to you. All were captured during the 1997-2003 period in our nature reserves during the NParks surveys.
I had a specimen that I'd tentatively ID'ed as A. wildeyana - a very small specimen that corresponds to what Ben Jin found. It may be a better one for you to examine especially when there are uppersides to see.
Maybe we shall wait till 2011, and push the checklist past the 300 mark.
Arhopala wildeyana top-female, bottom-should be male
I finally managed to figured this one out. One of the great difficulty with Arhopala is that individual variation would render any textbook description inaccurate and what are perceived as stable features unreliable. In this case whether the postdiscal band on the forewing is whole, kinked, or dislocated is inmaterial. Another is the spot in space 6 on the hindwing; this may be fully or partially under spot 7, and likewise fully or partially astride the cellend and spot 5.
The most noticeable feature is that the spots are rather large for the butterfly. Postdiscal spots 4 & 5 are fully conjoined or almost so. The 3 discal spots are large with the lowest in space 1 quadrate. The submarginal spots on the hindwing are either dome-shaped or pyramidal. Closest to Fleming's L236B Un. In the text, A. wildeyana is stated to be not uncommon in Singapore.
TL Seow
Last edited by Psyche; 06-Dec-2010 at 06:25 AM.