Parnara bada???

[Silverstreak]

Dr. Seow ,

Need your assistance in identifying this skipper taken yesterday.

From the forewing markings, I can eliminate Polytremis and Pelopidas in the checklist.

The forewing markings are rather unique and to me it looks uncunningly similar to Parnara bada :bsmile:

Here are 4 shots of the same individual from various angles.


#1

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/Sunny-Chir---EOS-1D-Mark-III--17_10_2011--0379.jpg

#2

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/Sunny-Chir---EOS-1D-Mark-III--17_10_2011--0393.jpg

#3

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/Sunny-Chir---EOS-1D-Mark-III--17_10_2011--0386.jpg

#4

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/Sunny-Chir---EOS-1D-Mark-III--17_10_2011--0391.jpg

[Psyche]

It looks like it is Parnara bada.

These skippers all look alike. Note Federick's skipper which was IDed as P. ganga.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10563&page=4
The upperside is identical but the underside colour is different and the antennae reflects white all the time.

I can't find the thread on the P. apostata, I remember the upperside is very dark and the forewing base and costal areas are shaded dark grey instead of brown.

A pic of P bada from the HKLS website. The underside colour look similar.
http://www.hkls.org/p_bada.htm
And P. ganga
http://www.hkls.org/p_ganga.htm
Will check for confirmation.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Silverstreak]

Dr Seow,

Except for #1 which was taken with fill-flash, as the skipper was adverse to flash, so the other 3 shots were taken with the flash off.

Will try to collect a voucher specimen .....

:cheers:

[Psyche]

The 3 Parnara spp. are very similar.
C&P4 described P. bada as brown with a slight golden sheen, P. apostata as almost black, and P. ganga as somewhere in between.
P. apostata is distinctive enough with dark wings & dark grey hair-scales.

The reality is that P. bada have quite dark forewings and would be difficult to diffeentiate from P. ganga, unless the cell spot is present.

Federick' pic was IDed as P. ganga based on the following.
There appeared to be a faint cell-spot. ( This now looks like a blemish.)
The forewing is dark grey.(P. bada's forewing is also dark & would be difficult to tell without comparison with valid examples.Lighting, camera settings & wear will affect the colour.)

However, one noticeable diffrence as mentioned by Fleming is the size of the hindwing spots.
There is a tendency to reduction of the spots in size & number in P. bada.
The forewing spots may be reduced but that on the hindwing is much more noticeable.
It is difficult to discern the spots on the underside.
On the upperside the spots are reduced in number, whereas the other 2 spp. tend to have a full complement of 4 spots.

As mentioned earlier your skipper & Federick' skipper have near identical forewing & hindwing markings.
There was always a bit of uncertainty with the ID of Fedefick's pic.because of the forewing 'cellspot' and the hindwing spotting.
I am fairly confident both are P. bada.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

With apologies for hijacking somebody else's thread, but as we are on the subject of Panara sp., I am attaching the only photo of, what I had provisionally labelled, as Panara bada. Am I right?

[Psyche]

With apologies for hijacking somebody else's thread, but as we are on the subject of Panara sp., I am attaching the only photo of, what I had provisionally labelled, as Panara bada. Am I right?

Although the antennae look short, that of Pelopidas is only a tad longer than Parnara.
The sharper forewing and the hindwing spots in an arc are typical of Pelopidas.
In Parnara the hindwing spots are in a straight line.

This looks like a worn P. mathias.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thanks, Seow, I had not looked at this one since 2008!. Damn, a -1!

[Silverstreak]

Thank You Dr.Seow!!

This specimen was shot miles away from where Federick recorded his . So there is a possibility that the species is quite wide-spread within the CCA .

I nearly gave it a miss, as there were a few Pelopidas mathias mathias (Small Branded Swift ) in the vicinity . It was when it opened its wings to bask, and the rather unusual upperside marking that attracted my attention.

Cheers!

[Psyche]

The difference in the underside colour, apart from the effect of the strong flash is due to sex or gender difference. From the shape of the abdominal tip, Sunny's pic is a female and Federick's pic is a male.

Notice the colour difference mirrored that of the mating pair of Contiguous Swift ( Polytremis lubricans ) in Federick's thread.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

I have located the correct images of P. ganga & P. apostata for comparison.

Parnara ganga.
This one have a faint lower cell-spot, but unlike Federick's pic where the 'spot' is wrongly placed, this is exactly in the right position, ie. at the upper inside corner of the big spot in space 2.
There is less of the golden-brown scaling on the forewing & body than P. bada.
http://www.pbase.com/vulien/image/32995240

Parnara apostata.
The forewings are very dark & there is no noticeable brown scaling.
http://www.geocities.jp/ikokuhetabi/vietnam1004/q37.htm

Addition
An Indian P. bada female for comparison.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drsaji/5289912240/
Mating pair.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkadavoor/5484338081/in/photostream/

TL Seow:cheers:

[Silverstreak]

Dr. Seow ,

Thank You Very Much for the effort !

It is certain that we have this skipper extant in Singapore . It was also recorded by earlier researchers in the Singapore Checklist.

ButterflyCircle adopts very stringent requirements in the addition of new and rediscovered butterfly species into the our existing checklist .

We will formally announce and add it to the checklist once it meet these stringent requirements.


Cheers!

[Psyche]

Thanks, Seow, I had not looked at this one since 2008!. Damn, a -1!

An oopsie here.
Having now been privy to an upperside shot, the skipper in question is indeed a Parnara and should be P. apostata.

TL Seow:cheers:

BTW, Sunny your UFO lycaenid thread is closed, so no reply possible.

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you, Seow. Right Genus, wrong species, at least I can delete the -1. Fortunately, I had not deleted my files yet!