Butterfly numbers were very poor this year. Not sure for the reasons, there may be more than one factor.
I'll start off with the first species I found, which includes one of only 4 new species for me on this trip, that I know of (but there are still the Arhopala to rescue me!!!)
LD1) Rajah Brooke's Birdwing (the original) - Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana. This species had the very annoying habit of only resting at a height of about 3-4 metres, hence the less the parfect angle.
LD2a) Atrophaneura nox noctis (male) - A +1 for me.
b) as above (female), much larger than the male.
Last edited by Painted Jezebel; 31-Jul-2013 at 02:45 PM.
6. Neptis omeroda female.
Note FW extension of the HW discal band composed of well-defined spots.
All others (both sexes of harita, & ilia plus male omeroda ) have the FW extension very diffuse & ill-defined.
8. Zizina otis. HW postdiscal spot 6 is present but poorly formed.
Thank you for the N . omeroda. I was not sure, as that species is not on the official Danum Valley list, N. ilira is. I did wonder, currently 235 species.
A. epimuta is not on the list either, but then I think that from this trip and our earlier one in 2010, we can add at least 40 species to the known species in Danum (and counting).
Alternative pathway (assuming dark basal patch in FW space 1b) leads to A. belphoebe, which cannot be.
Tentative ID A. hypomuta.
TL Seow
PS. The remark about the female omeroda having well-defined spots alone may not be entirely right . Some variations is expected.
The FW subapical spots are also larger & the submarginal band broader & better defined than in ilira.
PS2. No other match possible for post 3 no. 4 .
Two other Bornean endemics A. dajagaka & baluensis have FW spot 4 in line & resembles A. amphimuta. A. hypomuta deva from Brunei for comparison. https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...aMFUpUnAC1.jpg
Last edited by Psyche; 02-Aug-2013 at 07:36 AM.
Reason: PS2
Yes, the orange tipped antennae are odd! I have specimens taken there that are typical hypomuta, with the small spot at base of space 6, and their antennae show no sign of orange.
Only two Arhopala from me where I am having difficulty.
LD3) Using the keys, this comes out as A. agesilaus, but I could have gone wrong at no. 46!
LD4) Again, to me, this comes out to me as either A. amphimuta or A. baluensis. It was quite small.
Danum Valley - July 2013
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