Dear Dr. Seow sir, I am stuck with the ID of the following species photographed in Meghalaya. I have no idea about the Ypthima but try to narrow down the ID of the Lethe as Lethe distans based on the following keys I have collected in previous post on this forum (pretending it is a female)?:
FW white cross band narrow, typically not breaking the outer border of the dark zone?
FW submarginal line & ocelli looks obscure.
HW outer dark line not so bent in.
The slight upper visible from the broken area looks bright red?
The female of Lethe mekara and Lethe distans however looked similar though.
Doubts: This one has the HW outer dark line not so bent in, so tentative Lethe mekara?
Ypthima UFO (Looked like a Fivering). Striking out Y. baldus looking at UN obscure fasciae. UP is almost without any dark fasciae? It is from January season.
It is also possible intermediates between the species (crosses) cause wide & confusing variations.
The underside have two dark lines . Evsns called them discal & basal lines. Eliot called the inner one sub-basal.
Since the inner line is quite far from the base, I called it the sub-basal line following Eliot.
Lethe distans. HW sub-basal line slightly irregular, may nae a tootyh or broken.
HW discal line angled out into the ocelli much as in L. mekara, sharper, but less than in L. chandica.
FW discal line slightly irregular, with some undulation.
Male UpH outer area bright red with prominent black spots; female mostly bright red. http://yutaka.it-n.jp/sat/40250001.html https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/me...c4354c6c-1.jpg
(The rest of the BOI images , male L. distans are uncertain , ? L. chandica & the female L. mekara.)
1. female L/ mekara.
HW sub-basal line straight without irregularities, ie, tooth, angle or break.
The FW discal line is undulate with the ocelli but this occur in the female.
3. Male L. mekara
HW sub-basal line straight.
FW discal line is also straight here.
4. All male L. chandica.
HW discal line is deeply angulated outwards into the ocelli.
HW sub-basal line is very irregular.
FW discal line is strongly undulate/scalloped.
It seems perhaps Lethe distans and Lethe chandica are very difficult to ID on the underside except -
a). space between spots 2 & 3 & the dark discal line
b). Colour contrast
These above keys as you mentioned seems to be bit reliable I guess.
Reading those tough taxonomic keys, I am posting here, what I think, may be reliable to be Lethe distans, Male?
HW sub-basal line slightly irregular, may nearly a toothy or broken.
HW discal line angled out into the ocelli much as in L. mekara, sharper, but less than in L. chandica.
The colour contrast is also less?
A bright red area is visible on the HW?
Additional: the space between spots 2 & 3 & the dark discal line also looks comparatively wide?
Lethe distans is legally protected in India under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. So, it is impossible either to collect specimens or to handle it for the upeer.
This male have all the criteria for Lethe distans.
1. Dark discal line not extending deep.
2. HW sub-basal line have a single tooth.
3. Space between spots 2 & 3 & discal line wide.
4. Markings not deeply contrasted.
In most cases of L chandica the dark discal line should extend in a curve, deeply along vein 4 & coming close to spot 3.
One problem is the lack of proper UpH shots to confirm the IDs in the web images.
Question. do the male L. chandica with obscure red UpH shows prominent red under flash.
This marks it as a Five-ring with discal fascia.
The species without discal fascia can be ignored.
In addition, UpH shows a dark submarginal line which widens in space 4 & 5.
Doubtful Butterflies from Meghalaya
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