A couple of Lycaenidae from Borneo

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13-Jul-2016, 02:25 AM
atronox

5 Attachment(s)

Some Lycaenidae from Borneo

Hi, everyone, so a couple of weeks ago, i visited Danum Valley. But after comparing my finds with all the awesome things that some of the BC members found there the last time, i think it's safe to say that mine pales in comparison(mostly because of image quality; i am still using my crappy D60:/, but also because it was pretty cloudy and that there was little butterfly activity.) So here are some of my more interesting finds!!!

Attachment 24033
Jamides pura tenus

Attachment 24035
And then this Nacaduba joined in. Seems like Nacaduba beroe neon to me.

Attachment 24036
Drupadia ravindra surindra. This race is found in NE Borneo.
There are many other races of this species in Borneo but
i find this race interesting as it is the only one on Borneo that is sexually dimorphic
on both wing surfaces. This is a male; the female has the usual orange colour.

Attachment 24037
Zeltus amasa maximinianus. Same race as Singapore but note the heavier submarginal markings.

Attachment 24034
Bornean endemic!!! Acytolepis ripte. Found in the late afternoon on bird poop.

Aaaaand more to follow... including a few more endemics. This is all that i can process for now haha.
13-Jul-2016, 03:58 PM
Psyche

Post 1 no.2 Nacaduba normani.
The dark striae are disintergrated, almost obsolete ruling out both berenice & calauria.
The FW postdiscal is dislocated & the submarginal spots are large, conical & dark.
N. normani has become a pest , the larva feeding on young Coacoa leaves. Range; Borneo, Sulawesi.
https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/N...niMUpUNAC1.jpg

TL Seow : Cheers.
13-Jul-2016, 04:21 PM
Angiud

Whoa, lucky to visit Danum. A place I dream to see again... and again...

Last time we didn't find so many butterflies too.... but plenty of other animals
14-Jul-2016, 12:16 AM
atronox

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psyche

Post 1 no.2 Nacaduba normani.
The dark striae are disintergrated, almost obsolete ruling out both berenice & calauria.
The FW postdiscal is dislocated & the submarginal spots are large, conical & dark.
N. normani has become a pest , the larva feeding on young Coacoa leaves. Range; Borneo, Sulawesi.
https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/N...niMUpUNAC1.jpg

TL Seow : Cheers.

I have a reason to believe that this is probably not normani because i have a shot of what is definitely normani which i will share soon.
14-Jul-2016, 04:50 AM
atronox

9 Attachment(s)

Attachment 24043
Nacaduba normani normani. The ID is definite as i have confirmation from the dorsal.
This is the only species in the berenice group to have the wide grey border on the dorsal hindwing
which rules out berenice and calauria and which can just about be seen in the next, blurry photo. The rounded forewing apices are also quite distinctive.

Attachment 24045
Nacaduba normani normani(dorsal)

Attachment 24044
Probably N. calauria malayica. I didn't manage to get a dorsal.
Sorry about the quality; this was taken from a distance.

Attachment 24046
N. sanaya elioti. Same race as Singapore but once again, as with many Bornean taxa, the submarginal
markings are heavier. When i first saw this i thought it was the rare, endemic N. asaga but the
vibrant blue dorsal rules that out.

Attachment 24047
N. sanaya elioti(peek at dorsal)

Attachment 24048
Prosotas dubiosa subardates. Again with much heavier submarginal markings than the local race.

Attachment 24049
Cheritra pallida. Apparently, freja ochracea has been synonymised with this species.

Attachment 24050
This is probably an aberration of something that's otherwise quite ordinary. Maybe a Prosotas sp.

Attachment 24051
Dorsal of previous individual.
14-Jul-2016, 04:52 AM
atronox

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angiud

Whoa, lucky to visit Danum. A place I dream to see again... and again...

Last time we didn't find so many butterflies too.... but plenty of other animals

Yes, it was a fantastic place. Too bad sunshine wasn't at it's maximum otherwise i would've probably got many more.
14-Jul-2016, 08:40 PM
Psyche

Quote:

Originally Posted by atronox

I have a reason to believe that this is probably not normani because i have a shot of what is definitely normani which i will share soon.

Unless there are other species of 6line blues in Borneo, I am quite confident it is N. normani.
Wingshapes are easily distorted in photos & I have learned not to rely on them too much.

You cna pretty much discount N. berenice , calauria & kurava .These have define black striae in the bands.
That leaves N. beroe & normani. The dark striae here are poor as can be seen in the set specimens & a field shot.
Note the wingshape is also distorted.
The large dark submarginal spots match very well.

The ssp of N beroe appeared to be the same in Sumatra, Malaya & Borneo.
N. beroe is not rare & there are good examples. The submarginal spots are different & the wingbase usually darkened.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2iA9V4YMtR...0/DSC_0245.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HvpFxJKK7J...0/DSC_0096.JPG

The aberration judging by its large dark submarginal spots is also N. normani.

TL Seow: Cheers.
16-Jul-2016, 03:36 AM
atronox

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psyche

Unless there are other species of 6line blues in Borneo, I am quite confident it is N. normani.
Wingshapes are easily distorted in photos & I have learned not to rely on them too much.

You cna pretty much discount N. berenice , calauria & kurava .These have define black striae in the bands.
That leaves N. beroe & normani. The dark striae here are poor as can be seen in the set specimens & a field shot.
Note the wingshape is also distorted.
The large dark submarginal spots match very well.

The ssp of N beroe appeared to be the same in Sumatra, Malaya & Borneo.
N. beroe is not rare & there are good examples. The submarginal spots are different & the wingbase usually darkened.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2iA9V4YMtR...0/DSC_0245.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HvpFxJKK7J...0/DSC_0096.JPG

The aberration judging by its large dark submarginal spots is also N. normani.

TL Seow: Cheers.

According to Seki and Takanami(1991), there are four species on Borneo with the dark lines alongside the striae: kurava, calauria, berenice and normani. I felt that this specimen was beroe because it lacks this feature and also because another diagnostic feature of beroe according to the same authors was that it lacks a pair of costal white dashes above the subbasal lines on the forewing.

On Borneo there seems to be a tendency for species to have very pronounced submarginal spots(especially females), even though the Bornean subspecies might be the same as the Malayan subspecies. So although the subspecific name may be the same, they are still quite different in appearance nevertheless because of biogeographical factors. I personally feel that it would not be very useful to compare specimens from Malaya and Borneo because despite the identical name, they are still quite different physically. In fact all the Nacaduba from Borneo that supposedly are the same subspecies as those from Malaya(that's all except angusta and berenice) look different enough to be treated as different races but are not distinguished for some reason.

The darkened wing bases seem to be a feature only found in males as Seki and Takanami illustrate a female without this feature.

As for the aberration, i initially thought it was normani as well but the dark grey borders on the dorsal hindwing are a thread so i'm stumped.
16-Jul-2016, 03:39 AM
atronox

1 Attachment(s)

Attachment 24052
I have resized and attached the same photo for ease of viewing.
16-Jul-2016, 04:16 PM
Psyche

All female 6 line blues have well-developed dark striae, including N. beroe. so yours is a male.

The set male specimen below is definitely N. normani as can be seen from the brown border on the upperside HW.
On the underside all the dark striae are poorly developed some being absent.
https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/N...niMUpUNAC1.jpg

TL Seow; Cheers.
PS. Field shots are particularly hard to ID if not in focus.
I feel that the shots labelled as N. normani is actually N. calauria.
The HW brown border is doubtful , & does not match the set specimen of N. normani.
The rounded FWs & well-developed dark striae are also typical of N. calauria.
N. calauria from Singapore. Dark striae strong ; FW band usually straight; FW submarginal spots 4 & 5 pointed.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...yica---2--.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5645/2...8fab0615_b.jpg

It is probable the one labelled N. calauria is N. normani because the dark striae are weak & the FW band wavy.
20-Jul-2016, 07:41 PM
atronox

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psyche

All female 6 line blues have well-developed dark striae, including N. beroe. so yours is a male.

The set male specimen below is definitely N. normani as can be seen from the brown border on the upperside HW.
On the underside all the dark striae are poorly developed some being absent.
https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/N...niMUpUNAC1.jpg

TL Seow; Cheers.
PS. Field shots are particularly hard to ID if not in focus.
I feel that the shots labelled as N. normani is actually N. calauria.
The HW brown border is doubtful , & does not match the set specimen of N. normani.
The rounded FWs & well-developed dark striae are also typical of N. calauria.
N. calauria from Singapore. Dark striae strong ; FW band usually straight; FW submarginal spots 4 & 5 pointed.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...yica---2--.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5645/2...8fab0615_b.jpg

It is probable the one labelled N. calauria is N. normani because the dark striae are weak & the FW band wavy.

Dr Seow, do you think this could be a very worn out female calauria? I'm starting to see a hint of a white streak above the subbasal lines on the forewing. Or maybe it's just be the lighting.
20-Jul-2016, 08:10 PM
Psyche

Quote:

Originally Posted by atronox

Attachment 24052
I have resized and attached the same photo for ease of viewing.

I supposed you are referring to the above pix.
The female calauria have very strong dark striae & so could not be it. Also the FW band is almost always straight.

The absence of the costal white dashes above the subbasal band is good for most beroe males but not absolute, some having some vestigial marks ; the female usually have some weak dashes.
The other three beenice, calauria & kurava usually have well marked costal dashes in both sexes.

TL Seow : Cheers.
21-Jul-2016, 07:02 PM
atronox

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psyche

I supposed you are referring to the above pix.
The female calauria have very strong dark striae & so could not be it. Also the FW band is almost always straight.

The absence of the costal white dashes above the subbasal band is good for most beroe males but not absolute, some having some vestigial marks ; the female usually have some weak dashes.
The other three beenice, calauria & kurava usually have well marked costal dashes in both sexes.

TL Seow : Cheers.

Thanks Dr Seow