Commander
18-Sep-2005, 12:24 PM
These two lookalikes can be quite problematic when trying to separate them out in the field. Whilst the males of A. saturata is quite distinctive in having two subapical bands in its forewings, the females appear like the male/females of A. geza and the key identifier lies in the hindwing discal band.
In C&P4, pp 207, the ID key which separates A. geza and A. saturata (key 9 and 10) states that,
for A. geza, "Underside of hindwing discal band dislocated at vein 4" whilst
for A. saturata, "Underside of hindwing discal band not dislocated, but may be angled at vein 4"
The highlighted words stress the difference between the two species, but the qualitative definition of "dislocated" and "angled" may not be clear. How does one define "dislocated" and where it ends, and where "angled" begins? :hmmm:
Here are two shots of the two species, which in my opinion, shows the "dislocated" hindwing discal band (shot on the left) and where the "dislocation" is merely "angled" (shot on the right).
Do post your own shots of this species and let's compare and see if we can find other secondary ID characteristics to separate the two species.
Research specimens from Pulau Tekong show more sharply angled tails than the mainland specimens. So far, the majority of the specimens from Tekong are A. saturata.
In C&P4, pp 207, the ID key which separates A. geza and A. saturata (key 9 and 10) states that,
for A. geza, "Underside of hindwing discal band dislocated at vein 4" whilst
for A. saturata, "Underside of hindwing discal band not dislocated, but may be angled at vein 4"
The highlighted words stress the difference between the two species, but the qualitative definition of "dislocated" and "angled" may not be clear. How does one define "dislocated" and where it ends, and where "angled" begins? :hmmm:
Here are two shots of the two species, which in my opinion, shows the "dislocated" hindwing discal band (shot on the left) and where the "dislocation" is merely "angled" (shot on the right).
Do post your own shots of this species and let's compare and see if we can find other secondary ID characteristics to separate the two species.
Research specimens from Pulau Tekong show more sharply angled tails than the mainland specimens. So far, the majority of the specimens from Tekong are A. saturata.