Which Tajuria please?

[JitLeangFoo]

Is this T.mantra or T.dominus?
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[Blue Nawab]

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7359/27523017236_818707d454_b_d.jpg
Same Butterfly for your consideration, Dr Seow.

[Psyche]

What you both shot here should be Tajuria deudorix ingeni.

Both T, mantra & deudorix are large species with the FW postdiscal band/line set close to the termen (outer margin).

T. mantra :HW band/line strongly concave/curved in space 2 & 3 (above the 'V') .
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Tajuria%20mantra%20mantra/Tajuria%20mantra%20mantra%20-%20horace.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Tajuria%20mantra%20mantra/Tajuria%20mantra%20mantra%20-%20Benedict%20Tay.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Tajuria%20mantra%20mantra/Tajuria%20mantra%20mantra%20-%20Tan%20Ben%20Jin.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/TajuriaMantraMUpUnSingaporeAC1.jpg

T. deudorix; HW postdiscal band/line straight like a series of steps in space 2 & 3.
Another example from the past.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Tajuria%20mantra%20mantra/Tajuria%20mantra%20mantra.jpg

TL Seow: Cheers.

[atronox]

Beautiful shots. It's pretty clear that this species is still extant in Sg.

[JitLeangFoo]

We were unable to get a photo of the upperside but this is a snap shot from a video of it. Wonder if it is of help.
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Also this is the size.
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[Psyche]

This is a lot more difficult looking at the upperside than I thought.
The extent & shape of the blue is variable in both species .
Generally T. deudorix have more blue on the HW.

This female have more HW blue than the typical T. mantra female but a bit less than the typical T. deudorix.

The definitive ID in T. deudorix, is that the underside FW is whitish near the lower margin (dorsum)
TL Seow : Cheers.

PS. Probably correct as T. deudorix, but can not be absolutely certain.
If a line is drawn across the HW from apex to mid-dorsum (inner margin) the width of the blue is twice that of the black area along this line.
In C&P4 Plate 46 fig 29 T deudorix female & fig 31 T. mantra female, the blue area is only a bit wider than the black in T. mantra. along the same imaginary line.

[Commander]

I've just set the specimen. I'll post some photos after I take it off the board. From what I can see, it still looks like a typical T. mantra after comparing it with two other females that I bred some time back. In the meantime, this is a shot of the upperside on the setting board. Two other shots are taken from Butterflies of Thailand book comparing T. mantra and T. deudorix.

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[Psyche]

It does look more like T. mantra female ,but the definitive ID is the whitish dorsum(lower margin) of the FW on the underside in T. deudorix.

TL Seow : Cheers.

[Commander]

Yes, that was the first thing I checked. The area is lighter brown, although I cannot say that it is distinctly whitish as in Pisuth's book. The lighter shading at the dorsum of the underside of the forewing is something similar to what is pictured as T. mantra ogyges. Slightly lighter, but does not appear white.

[atronox]

The pinned female looks quite pregnant; you might wanna try coaxing a few eggs out.

Interesting that ogyges is here treated as a race of mantra. In D'abrera and funet it is treated as a distinct species.

[Psyche]

Yes, that was the first thing I checked. The area is lighter brown, although I cannot say that it is distinctly whitish as in Pisuth's book. The lighter shading at the dorsum of the underside of the forewing is something similar to what is pictured as T. mantra ogyges. Slightly lighter, but does not appear white.

If it is just lighter brown then it is mantra.
Anyway the upperside FW extent of the blue is that of mantra.

T. deudorix have the HW postdiscal markings 'flattened out' & the V mark in space 1b typically very shallow.
Sunny has a male that is close to it & it looks different from the usual mantra.
http://s13.photobucket.com/user/SunnyChir/media/Sunny-Chir--1D4-003547_zps32ff6891.png.html

T, deudorix is not considered a rare species & Morrell bred it on Dendrophthoe & Scurrula , common mistletoes in Singapore in the sixties.
Singapore is the type location for ssp. ingeni ( ie. 1st recorded from Singapore).

TL Seow : Cheers.

[Commander]

Thanks, Seow. We'll just have to pay attention to these Tajurias when we encounter them. Best bet would be to find the early stages and breed them to eclosion. :)