KP and other matters

Last Wednesday, Antonio was kind enough to show me his new hunting ground. A bit steep to start off with but soon levelled out a bit. The weather was not great but I was able to get a couple. Thanks for your hospitality, Antonio.

1) Neocheritra amrita amrita. It is as common as he says, I can not understand why I can't find it on Samui:hmmm: .
2) Celaenorrhinus asmara asmara. A highly cooperative model for a change.

The day before, I had the pleasure of meeting Masashi Maruyama, a Japanese gentleman who visits Samui every few years. He was able to advise me of 6 species that he has collected on Samui, but are not on my list. He advised me where he had seen them, I have some new areas to visit!!!:)

Delias descombesi eranthos - A shock! Collected in 1989- Specimen seen.
Papilio prexaspes andamanicus
Parantica aspasia
Athyma kanwa kanwa
Simiskina phalena phalena
Pratapa icetioides calculis.

Nice finds and photos, Les. The Neocheritra amrita amrita is certainly a colourful species ... very nice.

Looks like you will have more targets to chase. It would be amazing and fun to have such diversity near home. Here in Australia, butterflies are pretty meagre but at least there is an incredible diversity of reptiles to pursue. I am hoping to get to the outback for a week in November, a very good month for reptile activity.

Regards,
David

Thanks, David.

Out of those new six, I am pretty sure that 2 (Delias & Parantica) are extinct on the island, I would recognise them immediately. The others may be more of a possibility, another 2 (Papilio and Athyma) I may have missed by accident, thinking they were a different species known to me here, and the final 2 (Simiskina & Pratapa) are rare enough that I need luck to find them.

I am waiting for good weather to go out to these new areas and look for them but do not hold your breath!

Several questios for you, Les.

1. What is the difference between ssp. descombesi & eranthos.

2. Delias belisama looks like it is the sundaic form of descombesi.
Are there any difference in the male genitalia of these two ?

3. What is the taxon in Borneo, and under which species is it?
It is not mentioned anywhere, but I recalled some-one shot one in Sabah.

4. There seems a lot of splitting done in Delias.
What is the difference between D. georgina & orphne?

5. There are insular races of D. hyparete with the red spots replaced by yellow , and looked so utterly different that I am surprised that they are not accorded species status.

TL Seow:cheers:

1) Male ssp. eranthos has wider and darker apical, costal and terman border markings on the forewing upperside. The hindwing upperside also has slightly broader marginal black border.

Female hindwing upperside, the submarginal white spots are almost obsolete, but very noticeable in nominate ssp.

There is one further ssp., D. d. leucacantha, which is found in Assam, Sikkim and Nepal.

2) There are only very minimal differences in outer lobes of the uncus. There may be more, but I am no expert in this field. They are certainly VERY closely related.

3) In Borneo, there is Delias eumolpe, I remember the photo too. Two ssp. exist. The nominate ssp. found in Sabah and the extreme NE of Kalimantan. Ssp. D. e. masaeae, described in 1993, is found on Mt. Saran in W. Kalimantan. No other members of the belisama subgroup exist on Borneo.

4) I'm not sure on the history behind this split (and also the raising to specific status of D. simanabum, D. cinerascens and D. battana all from ssp. of D. georgina, and also more recently discovered species), but it does seem geographically understandable and I have no reason to doubt the correctness of this. D. orphne with its 4 subspecies is endemic to W. Malaysia. D. georgina (no ssp.) is endemic to N. Luzon in the Philippines. I have no papers providing genitalia details. To be honest, they do not look that much alike to me, but that means nothing!

5) Many Delias species have their normal red markings replaced by yellow occasionally, but they are only forms. Are there any in particular subspecies you want to question?

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Thanks. It was D. eumolpe I was searching for.

Though you are not with the Delias site now, I thought I let you know a couple of things.

Under D. orphne, Mt ophir(so called by the British) is Gunong Ledang in Johor state in the south, where the norminate ssp is.

Gunong(=Mt.) Jelai is called by the British Kedah Peak (in the northern state of Kedah) where ssp keda is named after.
Specimens taken from Mt. Jelai (an isolated massif) can only be ssp. keda.

Delias agostina johnsoni is suspected to be a location error (probably from Assam). The type is lost, and the subspecies have never been recorded since. It is unknown from southern Thailand.
The purported specimen from Taiping is D. baracasa dives.

TL Seow:cheers:

Les: Enjoyed seeing those shots. Guessing you are entering your rainy season?
Here, I'm just looking forward to snow, ice, and cold for the next six months!
William

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psyche

Thanks. It was D. eumolpe I was searching for.

Though you are not with the Delias site now, I thought I let you know a couple of things.

Under D. orphne, Mt ophir(so called by the British) is Gunong Ledang in Johor state in the south, where the norminate ssp is.

Gunong(=Mt.) Jelai is called by the British Kedah Peak (in the northern state of Kedah) where ssp keda is named after.
Specimens taken from Mt. Jelai (an isolated massif) can only be ssp. keda.

Delias agostina johnsoni is suspected to be a location error (probably from Assam). The type is lost, and the subspecies have never been recorded since. It is unknown from southern Thailand.
The purported specimen from Taiping is D. baracasa dives.

TL Seow:cheers:

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Thanks for this info. I had become aware, during my time here, of the correct Gunung names, but I never had time to make the amendments, one of the reasons I passed the Delias site on.

I have always had very strong doubts about D. agostina johnsoni, and I am delighted that you support my suspicions about the specimen shown on the site.

May I pass these comments on to Olivier and Jean-Marc, who now run my old site?

Yes, the modern Malay spelling changes all the O to U. Thus, gunong (mountain) is gunung, buloh(bamboo) to buluh, boleh(can) to buleh, etc.

It is good to correct the errors before someone gets very confused.
When I saw the black veins I knew it can't be correct.

The only reason why D. agostina johnsoni is retained is that nobody knows for sure.
For example, no one is certain if Wallace caught D. singhapura from Singapore. Some suggested Mt Ophir (Gunung Ledang), but D. singhapura is also caught occassionally at low altitudes.

There is also the case of Tanaecia (Cynitia) lepidea. found in Myanmar, central Thailand, the hills of Malaya & Mentawai island off the coast of Sumatra, an extraordinarily disjunct distribution.
It has been suggested that it had migrated southwards during one of the minor 'ice age' but forced up the hills or back north again when the climate becomes warmer again.

TL Seow:cheers:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psyche

Some suggested Mt Ophir (Gunung Ledang), but D. singhapura is also caught occassionally at low altitudes.

There is also the case of Tanaecia (Cynitia) lepidea. found in Myanmar, central Thailand, the hills of Malaya & Mentawai island off the coast of Sumatra, an extraordinarily disjunct distribution.

TL Seow:cheers:

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Re D. singhapura:
This suggestion, on the face of it can appear understandable, however, Wallace described D. singhapura in 1867 as from Singapore, whilst, at the same time he describes D. georgina orphne from 'Mt. Ophir' so he certainly knew of the place. I find it difficult to understand why he would get one right and the other wrong.

When in Borneo, we did come across the local ssp. and low(ish) altitude (Maliau Basin).

T. lepidea is also found in SW Cambodia, I have photos!:)

Wallace return to England in 1862 after 8 years in the Malay Archpelago, all his stuffs periodically sent home by steamers.
He only described the butterflies after 5 years, so things could get mixed-up.
His type specimen is the only one known in Singapore.
The nearest place in the Malay peninsula where D. singhapura occur is Mt. Ophir about 120 miles north of Singapore, though it probably also occur in the highlands of the Endau-Rompin region (about 80 miles away).

Singapore with the highest point only about 580+ feet is practically low country, as is much of the adjacent southern Johor, probably unsuitable habitat for D. singhapura.

Where D. singhapura have been taken at low levels is in the foothills of the higher ranges, probably along river valleys with their cool microclimates, and where occassional individuals stray from higher altitudes.

Still one never knows, what with Vanessa indica being seen in Singapore.

TL Seow:cheers: