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Thread: Sabah, March-April 2019

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  1. #1
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    The Neptis should be N. leucoporos cresina.

    You might have two different Charaxes spp. but i'll let Dr Seow confirm that
    Aaron Soh

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    Quote Originally Posted by atronox View Post
    The Neptis should be N. leucoporos cresina.

    You might have two different Charaxes spp. but i'll let Dr Seow confirm that
    It looks to be one species.
    No match for C. harmodius or borneensis.
    Also none for surrounding species ie. C. bupalus, bajula & plateni, Palawan , C. amycus,Philippines.; C affinis ,C. nitebis, & C. mars ,Sulawesi.

    TL Seow: Cheers.
    Last edited by Psyche; 28-Apr-2019 at 03:46 PM.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Psyche View Post
    It looks to be one species.
    No match for C. harmodius or borneensis.
    Also none for surrounding species ie. C. bupalus, bajula & plateni, Palawan , C. amycus, affinis ,Philippines.,C. nitebis, & C. mars ,Sulawesi.

    TL Seow: Cheers.
    Thanks for the clarification, Dr Seow. I shot several other Charaxes and I highly suspect they are all the same species too.
    Last edited by Banded Yeoman; 28-Apr-2019 at 02:19 PM.
    cheers
    Jonathan

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    Quote Originally Posted by Banded Yeoman View Post
    Thanks for the clarification, Dr Seow. I shot several other Charaxes and I highly suspect they are all the same species too.
    I look through the whole thing a 2nd time and there may be a point in Aaron's suspicion.

    At one time C. bernardus was said to range into PNG, but this complex has been divided into several species.

    The upperside of C affinis have large FW black discal spots & large HW submarginal spots.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charax...isMUpUnAC1.jpg
    The underside HW may have a more prominent marginal band.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...nis%281%29.JPG

    The 1st & 2nd pix of the same Charaxes in post 23 (note broken right HW tail) shows the upperside very similar to C. affinis.

    Typical C. bernardus have small discal spots & the HW submarginal spots small.
    P.Malaysia.
    https://www.learnaboutbutterflies.co...n%20Negara.jpg

    Typical C. bernardus Sabah.
    https://www.jamiun.com/wp-content/up...rmarksmall.jpg

    This would suggest there are two forms in Sabah one typical C. bernardus & on resembling C. affinis.

    As they are sympatric (occurring in same area) this suggest two species.

    However, the Sumatran form labelled as C. bernardus have large FW discal spots & prominent HW submarginal spots( as in C. affinis)
    Sumatra ,labelled as C. bernardus.
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DT-cqAVeet...+indonesia.jpg
    http://potokito-myshot.blogspot.com/...-charaxes.html

    Also an Indian C. bernardus with HW marginal band.
    http://wildeyesbutterflying.com/wp-c...awny-Rajah.jpg

    This complicate the whole picture & thus current pix are best left as C. bernardus for the moment.


    TL Seow: Cheers.
    Last edited by Psyche; 28-Apr-2019 at 06:22 PM.

  5. #5
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    Dr Seow, thanks for looking over it. C. bernardus is an extremely variable species. I'll leave them as this one for now.


    I'm getting into my most important shots / sightings now. After seeing Lemon's gorgeous photos of the Bornean Sapphire (Heliophorus kiana), I knew I needed to hunt that species down. Unfortunately, they didn't appear as frequently as Lemon had encountered. I only saw a few individuals, all badly tattered besides one female which stayed very high up. They were seen individually along the stream, basking on the low shrubs at the banks. So, the photos I got are nothing like what Lemon achieved - but at least I saw it! It was the only endemic lycaenid I saw. That just means there's a great reason to go back! This is a male.


    Last edited by Banded Yeoman; 28-Apr-2019 at 10:32 PM.
    cheers
    Jonathan

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    The Crocker Range Endemic Swallowtails

    The following species were among our main targets and it was incredible to see them. All are confined to the Crocker Range in Borneo (especially the Kinabalu region) and are recorded from mid to high elevations. These are all incredible species and I'm very happy to have seen them! They truly made the trip worth it.


    The Kinabalu Swordtail (Graphium stratiotes)
    It's one of the most beautiful butterflies I've ever seen. White in flight, they were difficult to separate from the much more common Appias pandione whiteheadi, which had the annoying habit of chasing the Graphium in circles. The one below was the only pristine individual we encountered, taken on our last day of shooting.





    The Bornean Mormon (Papilio acheron)
    A huge species. They were seen on all days and often came to puddle in groups amongst Red Helens and Kinabalu Bluebottles.





    The Kinabalu Bluebottle (Graphium procles)
    A stunning species where the blue spots gradually turn green towards the forewing apex. These were the most often seen swallowtail. I was stunned to see a party of at least 10 Kinabalu Bluebottle and 5 Bornean Mormon puddling near the waterfall. The group dispersed slightly before I could get a shot. (I'll post this later.)


    cheers
    Jonathan

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    Pretty splendid shots of the endemic swallowtails, Jon! It would be great if anyone shot the female of P. acheron. I've never seen it
    Aaron Soh

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    I wasn't sure about the Charaxes because bernardus, harmodius and borneensis are sympatric and are all subject to local variation and i haven't seen many photos of the three species from Borneo to make a good comparison.

    Would be very surprising if affinis turned up in Borneo
    Aaron Soh

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by atronox View Post
    The Neptis should be N. leucoporos cresina
    Argh! I was all the way in Borneo and I ended up shooting one of the most common forest butterflies in Singapore. Its even the same subspecies. Bummer.
    cheers
    Jonathan

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