ID confirmation - Jamides elpis

[DaveChiangMai]

I have always found the differentiation of Jamides elpis from Jamides alecto difficult, and still not knowingly found the former.
I think this could be Jamides elpis pseudelpis.
Photographed peninsula Thailand - Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Jun 25.
The differentiation should be the thickness of the banding but that seems very subjective.
Help appreciated. Many thanks.

28841

[Psyche]

https://www.butterflycircle.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=28841&d=1751804315

Jamides abdul abdul male.Correction: Jamides ferrari .

Two species have the HW innermost band more or less intact and not strongly dislocated in the upper third..... J culnida and abdul (correction: May be variably dislocated in J. abdul)..

1. Jamides abdul.. FW postdiscal band barely dislocated at vein 6.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847198608
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81160001.html

2. Jamides cunilda ..FW postdiscal band strongly dislocated at vein 6 near upper end.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847200707
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81150010.html


Four species have the HW innermost band strongly dislocated especially at vein 7.
They are J. elpis, alecto, caerulea and talinga.

1, FW with a white costal spot (or a couple of white dashes) above the inner band.
J. talinga.( Note HW basal band sometimes intact.)
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847200470
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81110010.html


2. Jamides caerulea.
HW basal band completely dislocated sothat the 2nd white stria in space 7 is nearer the 3rd stria in the cell.Ground dark shaded in the male.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201011
https://wingscales.com/Lycaenidae/Jamides-caeruleus-caeruleus
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81120001.html

The last two can sometimes be difficult to separate.

3. Jamides elpis.
Male blue and mostly unmarked; female dark border not extending down costa.
UnF striaer relatively thin
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847200973
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847200664
(Note female from Chiang Mai should be alecto, FW black border extend along costa, and thich white striae.)
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81130010.html


4. Jamides alecto.
Male UpF with a black border and HW with marginal spots. Female black FW border extend down costa.
UnF white striae rather thick.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847201050
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847198562
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81140020.html

The difference between the two is more obvious in India.
https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/sites/default/files/JamidesElpis_RohanLovalekar_ag624.jpg
https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/sites/default/files/1611_63119-737-5f16da5ec1b66-1.jpg



TL Seow: Cheers.

[Psyche]

https://www.butterflycircle.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=28841&d=1751804315

Correction. Jamides ferrari.

Jamides abdul and ferrari practically shares the same underside.
They both have 1. HW basal band not dislocated, 2. FW postdiscal band barely or not dislocated at vein 6.
The diffrence is slight on the underside.

Jamides abdul. (HW basal band may appear partially dislocated or incomplete.)
FW discal(central) white striae nearly as thick as the submarginal pair.
HW orange merge with the small white stria to the inside in space 2.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847198608
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81160001.html
Added : The HW innermost band in J. abdul may be variably dislocated.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847198605
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2847198642


Jamides ferrari. (HW basal band always complete.)
FW discal white striae thinner than the submarginal pair.
HW orange patch largely separated from the small white stria by a dark streak.
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2251831075
https://yutaka.it-n.jp/lyc4/81175010.html



TL Seow: Cheers.

[DaveChiangMai]

Many thanks for the detailed notes. I appreciate just how difficult this group is.