Three photos of Lassipa species from southern Thailand, which should be either L. tiga or L. heliodore.
I found an excellent image on ButterflyCircle (see figure 4) via Google, of how to tell these two species apart. However, my three images do not follow these guidelines very well or clearly, and I am confused as to which these are. The submarginal spot in space 3 on my images is not particularly wide (indicating heliodore). However the cell "tongue" differs on one of them and is much clearer, indicating tiga.
Comments and corrections greatly appreciated please.
Image 1. From Krung Ching, Nakhon Sri Thammarat. I think tiga.
Image 2. From Ranong, Ranong province. I think tiga.
Image 3. From Ranong, Ranong province. I think heliodore.
Note that although I think Image 2 and 3 are different species, based on the tounge, they were photographed very close to each other in the same locality which might be a bit suspicious?
The delineation of the tongue in black ,stronger in heliodore & weaker in tiga works fairly well in P. Malaysia & Singapore.
Elsewhere it is not so reliable.
The width of FW submarginal spot 3 is still the best guide. The width is stated in the set specimen.
Lassipa tiga and heliodore confusion
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