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6 Attachment(s)
Dear Dr Seow,
Requesting ID and clarifications for a few Skippers shot by JX and I.
1. Potanthus omaha. Rather pristine male? I always get confused when I see pristine and light P.omaha but the veins still look dark-dusted and prominent!
Attachment 28377
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/176455291
2. Intermediate Potanthus omaha? It seems that on the HW upperside, the veins are half dark only which is intriguing!
I was unable to get a side view to show the abdominal end but it appears that only the top is shaded like that (from what I saw, I could've seen wrongly as the wings kept blocking), indicating a female for it was also ovi-positing on nearby grass.
Attachment 28378Attachment 28379Attachment 28380
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/176455156
3. Not a Potanthus but this one has me confused. Suggested to be a faded P.lubricans and I don't think it is Baoris. Was unfortunately not able to get any more shots due to wind.
Attachment 28381Attachment 28382
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/176455312
Thank you so much in advance!
Cheers,
Lumin Ong
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Post 31.
1. Female Potanthus omaha.
Female from the rounded wings & the abdominal end which is broad & tapers to an upper tip .
The veins are uniformly dark-dusted.
2. Female Potanthus ganda.
Female from the FW 'black hole' & the abdominal shading.
If the HW veins are faintly orange or brown it is not dark-dusted. Moreover this individual is very fresh (from the intact cilia).
Veins need to be at least partially black.
eg.
https://www.butterflycircle.com/chec...se_site_02.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Singapore.JPG
Freshly eclosed female P. ganda, raised by Horace.
Note the veins are orange, slightly raised (from pumped fluid during wing expansion.).
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r0llTLMbJ...rt-HoraceT.jpg
The 3rd pic shows FW spot 5 appearing smaller than spot 4.
This could raised confusion with P. serina.
A useful feature is that all species with a black band on the abdominal end also have the outside of the antenna largely blackish.
In a profile shot the front antenna is mostly black ,particularly in P. serina.
Profile shot of P. serina showing the blackness on the outside of the antennal shaft.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...serina-KSK.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...ale_Horace.jpg
P. trachala.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kvlAhJLLs...la-tytleri.jpg
P. omaha showing chequered antennae.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dKUEBsLc9...thus+omaha.jpg
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6A1sOPm3b...thus+omaha.jpg
P. ganda.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X9BG2_Zk_...t_Adult_02.jpg
3. Female Caltoris philippina.
Long swept FW ;FW without cellspot; blackish antennae.
The underside shows a coarsely speckled pattern of ochreous scales.
Only Caltoris & Polytremis have strong overlay of scales.
In fresh specimens, the overlay is more even, but when worn forms a coarse speckling of paler spots.
Baoris do not show this feature or perhaps very weakly.
Worn Baoris farri.
https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/si...ar_ag365_0.jpg
https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/si...15481f-1_0.jpg
Caltoris philippina 1 male & 2 females.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147253166
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147253168
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139732722
FW without cellspot.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DPQer73ti...lt_male_01.jpg
TL Seow; Cheers.
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Thank you Dr Seow!
May I also ask are the HW veins 4(?) and below usually of darker tone in Potanthus sp. even in species such as P.ganda that do not have dark-dusted veins? The P.ganda photos in the above post had a few dark veins (HW vein 4 and below) which made me think this was more towards P.omaha but the color of the veins are now clear to me! In P.omaha all the HW veins except vein 5 would be dark/black right?
1. Requesting ID for a Skipper I shot today too which I thought was Pelopidas conjunctus due to the size. I unfortunately took a far shot so here is a shot by my friend Monique!
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/176584449
Thank you once again!
Cheers,
Lumin Ong
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Post 33.
In Skippers, HW vein 5 is vestigial, undeveloped & may be represented by a line or fold.
It can hardly be seen & is not darken.
In the male P. omaha below the visible HW veins are , 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, & 8.
The upper part of the band is a squarish spot in space 4 & 5.
You can make out a faint vein 5 cutting horizontally across this spot.
On the upperside Hw vein 5 is not visible.
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.ama...1849/large.jpg
Eliot state of P. omaha in C&P4 : "On both wings the veins are distinctly blackened on the yellow bands."
He meant the upperside only.
The female P. omaha tend to have more strongly blackened veins.
Average Male.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142435940
Females.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/173787436
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/173426996
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/170793405
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/162440420
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/162137058
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/145202833
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/116249918
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97747887
females P. ganda.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/102807251
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/145665523
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.ama...716/large.jpeg
As for this ,the wings in the shadow seem to have more prominent veins, but judgement should not be based on poor lighting.(Orange veins & fold-lines become black.)
This has more the appearance of P. ganda
The 2nd is probably P. agna female.
Unfortunately the view is oblique.
P. agna is a larger species than P. mathias especially the female which is often misIDed as P. assamensis or conjubctus.
P. conjunctus can be IDed by its large size ,& that the fW spots are yellow, while the HW spots are white.
2 males & 1 female.
https://wanderingbutterflyeffect.fil...2468f1860b.jpg
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FvDO3Lfw_...lt_Khew_03.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...C_adult_01.jpg
TL Seow: Cheers.
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2 Attachment(s)
Dear Dr Seow,
Revisiting a Telicota sp. I shot the other day among many Potanthus omaha at MacRitchie.
1. Telicota besta? The two photos were shot under different lighting due to clouds and unfortunately, the butterfly did not give me any other angles such as upper-sides and just stayed still the whole time. I do see a little bit of dark-dusting (several specks) on the HW veins towards the margins.
Attachment 28393Attachment 28394
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/170110582
Better lighting by Monique: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/170120373
2. Although not a Skipper, I am very curious to hear your opinion on this Drupadia sp. my friends and I shot also in MacRitchie. Unfortunately, it only gave us this shot before disappearing and I understand that the HW isn't that clear.
Shot by Monique on iNautralist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/176586987
Thank you so much in advance!
Cheers,
Lumin Ong
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Post 36.
1. Male Telicota besta.
If the HW veins are raised & also with heavy shadowlines it is likely to be T. besta.
There are two proven underside males with upperside confirmation.
1. Raub
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NbpYa8XexN...0/DSC_0294.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n_yvZvniiO...0/DSC_0303.JPG
Some images are T. linna.
http://nlliew66butterflies.blogspot....esta-bina.html
2. Sebastian's shot.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/176612143
You can hardly see veins daken or with dark dusting in the others.
T. augias males.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hp7OPF_eJ...as-augias).jpg
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f8o_ke_F-...alm%2BDart.jpg
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104101569
T. linna males.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-79Gj7N-1G...TL_male_01.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GdFakZH5j...Horace-Tan.jpg
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148087973
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/131311724
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27994632
2. Drupadia ravindra female.
Although HW space 6 & 7 are largely black & white suggesting D. rufotaenia, there are other feature,
1. FW discal band is diffusely broad in D. rufotaenia.
2. The HW subtornal orange line/band is always present in rufotaenia.
3. The female D. ravindra have more rounded FW.
D. ravindra female.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...20-%20Khew.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...1%20090808.jpg
D. rufotaenia female.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...1%20110908.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...nny%20Chir.jpg
D. ravindra have a dwarf form which is much smaller, though still larger than rufotaenia.
Several years back there was a record shot of a male rufotaenia mating with a female ravindra.
This will result in some intermediates which may be hard to Id.
TL Seow: Cheers.
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2 Attachment(s)
Dear Dr Seow,
Thank you for the earlier IDs! Despite having little shots today, I still somehow managed to find one Potanthus that I would like to request clarification for! The issue being related to the Potanthus ganda ID in Post 31.
1. Potanthus serina female? Due to FW spot 4 being bigger than spot 5, HW spot 6 tiny and in the corner, abdominal end black at the tip but more on the dorsal side. I note that in Post 31, the antennae can be also a way to tell between the two Potanthus groups and I believe in this individual, the outer area of the antennae being black (although thin) would make it P.serina as well but I look forward to your reply!
Attachment 28395Attachment 28396
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/177169159
Thank you so much in advance!
Cheers,
Lumin Ong
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Post 38.
You certainly comes up with some unusual Potanthus.
The problem is the rounded wing profile shape is that of P. omaha/ganda.
The small disparity in size between spot 4 & 5 can also be seen in other species. Likewise the small HW spot 6.
The blackness of the outside of the antennal shaft seem variable in P. serina.Don't use it as a guide.
The marginal area in P. serina is neater ,more orangey & the ground is shaded brownish rather than blackish.
Here are some correct female P. serina for comparison.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...ale_Horace.jpg
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/69257201
The antennae are all chequered in the images below.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/31842760
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/149102606
P. serina is a large species FW 17mm vs FW 12-13 for P. omaha/ganda.
It is as large as most Telicota & is twice the size of P. omaha.
If you can recall the size as very big, it should be P. serina.
Otherwise it is very likely to be P. ganda female.
TL Seow:Cheers.
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Thank you so much Dr Seow! It's weird individuals like these that make me question whether I remember the ID features or not Hahaha. This individual was tiny and should be a P.ganda in the end! Will be sure to take note of their sizes from now on, been too focused on the spots and veins :bsmile:
