Jamides ?

[horace2264]

Encountered this male Jamides puddling on bird dropping.
The white striae are rather thin and the post-discal spots are broader than usual.

Dr Seow, any idea? :)

[Psyche]

You actually have the Sky Blue Jamides caeruleus.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/Share/Borneo-J-caeruleus.jpg

A 2nd point to note is that the FW spot 3 is only partially shifted in so that the white stria of its outer margin hangs in between the two strae above it. (vs aligned with the inner stria above in elpis & alecto.)

The continental ssp caeruleus is much darker in the male & the HW stria alignment is much better.
Liew's shot from Malaya.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_MCB-ltsw-Y/UzKCU4M-OkI/AAAAAAAANpM/YI0KPaisl4U/s1600/DSC_0723.JPG
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xUGk2t8Gbfw/UzKCUU0J1mI/AAAAAAAANpI/YJ2zYUdiGKQ/s1600/DSC_0705-001.JPG

Perhaps worthy of a new ssp. designation.

TL Seow:cheers:

[horace2264]

Thanks, Dr Seow for the Jamides ID. :)
I bred J. caeruleus before (and wrote a LH blog article on it too) and the specimens then have much alignment
This one looks different somehow (as described earlier) and that confused me.

[Psyche]

There is just some doubts with the ID here.
It is more likely to be a variant of J. elpis.

The following points should be noted.

1. The ground colour is wrong as the underside male caeruleus is quite dark brown.
2. The HW basal striae have a broken look vs very straight, thin & aligned in caeruleus.
3. The FW white striae forming the submarginal band in space 1b & 2 are broader than the two inner ones.
This is typical of J. elpis .All 4 striae are almost equally thin in male caeruleus; All 4 striae are broad in alecto.

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. Male & female J. caeruleus. Note male rather dark with the striae darkened.
http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JamidesCaeruleusMFUpUnAC1.jpg

[Psyche]

It should be correctly Jamides caeruleus.

The underside is fairly darker compared to most J. elpis.
Most of the white striae are very thin compared to J. elpis.
The 2 white striae defining the FW submarginal bands are usually thin in space 1a & 2 but varies as here.

A male J caeruleus from Cameron Highlands.
Note the FW submarginal striae are slightly thicker lower down.
The FW postdiscal band is similarly very broad with the lower spot partially dislocated, leaving a hanging white stria midway.
The HW alignment of 2nd stria in space 7 & 3rd stria in cell is even worse.
The upperside confirms the ID.
http://www.neutron.phys.ethz.ch/Lepidoptera/Lycaenidae/P3120018.JPG
http://www.neutron.phys.ethz.ch/Lepidoptera/Lycaenidae/P3120017.JPG

TL Seow:cheers:

[horace2264]

Many thanks, Dr Seow for double checking the ID. :)
I will record this one as Jamides caeruleus, and take note of the features pointed out.
It seems that there a sudden increase in the number of this species these few days in the central catchment reserve.