Commander
13-Aug-2005, 01:58 PM
Before I met Richard & Wang Peck last weekend, I was shooting quite a number of Euthalia spp. around the trails where some seeds had dropped. This had apparantly attracted quite a number of the Euthalia and Tanaecia butts to feed on the fermenting juices.
Besides a few male Malay Barons, and a female Baron (E. aconthea) which appeared, I observed a rather dark coloured male "Baron", feeding on the damp ground. Initially passing it off as a male Malay Baron, I took a few shots, but intutively decided to "take a closer look" at it. ;-)
After checking closely with the books, and also comparing with other evidence of the male Malay Barons (E. monina) and male Barons (E. aconthea), the specimen that was shot is highly likely to be one of a male E. merta merta. :jumjoy:
The blue fringes at the costal to apical region of the forewings are not evident in the field, and this shot has been PS'ed to increase the brightness of the butt. (The tinge of blue can be seen in C&P4's specimen, but very faint, Fleming's specimen lacks the blue completely) However, out in the field, in natural light, it appears almost black in appearance, and the blue cannot be seen. It must have been the camera's flash that brought out the bluish tinge (almost like the female which we shot a few weeks back, where some of our shots had a strong bluish tinge in the forewings, whilst others did not, most likely due to the angle of the shot and the flash)
The hindwing submarginal 'spots' instead of 'V' markings are also consistent with the male of E. merta's markings, as are some of the submarginal markings. It also does not possess the post-discal white spots of E. aconthea.
Anyone would like to express your views and observations?
Besides a few male Malay Barons, and a female Baron (E. aconthea) which appeared, I observed a rather dark coloured male "Baron", feeding on the damp ground. Initially passing it off as a male Malay Baron, I took a few shots, but intutively decided to "take a closer look" at it. ;-)
After checking closely with the books, and also comparing with other evidence of the male Malay Barons (E. monina) and male Barons (E. aconthea), the specimen that was shot is highly likely to be one of a male E. merta merta. :jumjoy:
The blue fringes at the costal to apical region of the forewings are not evident in the field, and this shot has been PS'ed to increase the brightness of the butt. (The tinge of blue can be seen in C&P4's specimen, but very faint, Fleming's specimen lacks the blue completely) However, out in the field, in natural light, it appears almost black in appearance, and the blue cannot be seen. It must have been the camera's flash that brought out the bluish tinge (almost like the female which we shot a few weeks back, where some of our shots had a strong bluish tinge in the forewings, whilst others did not, most likely due to the angle of the shot and the flash)
The hindwing submarginal 'spots' instead of 'V' markings are also consistent with the male of E. merta's markings, as are some of the submarginal markings. It also does not possess the post-discal white spots of E. aconthea.
Anyone would like to express your views and observations?