In this Palm King adult, the 4th band from base in HW does not look like that usually found in Amathusia phidippus.
Could this be a different species?
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Printable View
In this Palm King adult, the 4th band from base in HW does not look like that usually found in Amathusia phidippus.
Could this be a different species?
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This is likely to be Amathusia friderici.
The HW 4th dark band is strongly notched by the veins.
http://beyondnostalgia.livedoor.blog...s/8820190.html
Amathusia phidippus have this band entire & un-notched.
https://m.singapore.biodiversity.onl...doptera-000251
All other species have some degreeof notchings.
Some can IDed by other features.
eg A. perakana have the 4th band partially broken into separate spot & the FW is sharp.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/618/2...ac383a60_b.jpg
A. masina is reddish & have the FW postdiscal band solid brown without the whitish colour break seen in all other species.
http://www.samuibutterflies.com/02_i...namalaya.v.jpg
The hostplant is the widely cultivated oil-palm & the butterfly is said to be common in some places.
Form utana which is very dark was formerly thought to be a separate species.
TL Seow: Cheers.
Many thanks, Dr Seow, for the species ID suggestion.
The common name for Amathusia friderici is Bi-color Haired Palm King. I suppose this means that we can examine the abdominal hairs to confirm the ID?
If you can get a male, that would be great.Quote:
Originally Posted by horace2264
The abdominal hair tufts have the upper hairs dark brown & the lower hairs light yellowish.
That would be absolute confirmation.
TL Seow: Cheers.
Thanks for the info that it is a male feature. :) More work needed to be done to confirm this species. :sweat:Quote:
Originally Posted by Psyche
I had one male Palm King eclosed the other day with a video taken of the process. I think this one is a phidippus. I could see tuffs of hairs on the abdomen as the male emerged from the pupal case (see pics below).
Are these the abdomen hair tuffs which we should check for the bi-colored appearance in the Amathusia frederici ?
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Post 6.
Yes, those are the abdominal hair tufts.
The hair tufts are described in the set position.
So the upper ones are the ones nearer the thorax, & the lower ones towards the abdominal tip.
Probably the two upper sets are brown & the two lower sets are buff.
Here all four sets are light brownish.
Definitely A. phidippus.
TL Seow: Cheers.
Many thanks, Dr Seow, for the confirmation regarding the hair tuffs and the species ID.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psyche
Another Amathusia adult. Is the HW 4th dark band considered notched?
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Post 9.
This would be considered notched, but there is much variation.
Even some phidippus may have some mild notchings.
It is necessary to established confirmed examples of A. friderici for future reference.
Only the bicolored hair tufts is affirmative.
TL Seow; Cheers.
Many thanks, Dr Seow.
More work needs to be done to confirm A.friderici. :sweat:
Two more males eclosed today. Both have their 4th dark band in HW notched at the veins.
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Continued from the previous post.
For the 1st male, I was able to take pics of the abdominal hair tuffs.
Attachment 28243
Close-up of the hair tuffs from the side.
Attachment 28244
The hair tuffs are definitely not unicolorous.
This gets very confusing as the individual hairs are also bicolored.
I am quite sure there is an error in the key, a typo error.
The line in the key should read.
' Abdominal hair tufts bicoloured.; the upper hairs yellowish buff ;the lower hairs greyish brown.'
This will then make sense.
If you have a ventral view of the abdomen as below this will be easier to see.
ie, ideal view of hair tufts.
Attachment 28245
Male A. phidippus.
Zoom in the Underside image. The abdominal hair-tufts can be seen. they are mostly yellowish.
https://singapore.biodiversity.onlin...0251?imageId=2
TL Seow: Cheers.
PS. Possibly there may be a 3rd species.
Both observations are of the same individual.
The HW 4th band broken through at several points suggest A. perakana.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143352856
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143338434
A. perakana. HW 4th band broken thru.
FW sharp (?male only) & FW lower margin (dorsum) bowed .
https://thaibutterflies.com/wp-conte...a-perakana.jpg
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6648154
Thanks Dr Seow for the illustration and the suggestion of a 3rd species. :grin2:
We can wait for the pics of the set specimens to verify the coloration of the hair tuffs once the specimens are ready for photo-taking.
I did a quick ventral shot of the hair tufts from the specimen Horace passed to me.
Attachment 28246
Thanks Khew.
What the reference text state can be somewhat different in reality.
The colour are not well separated but grades from yellow to greyish downwards.
Viewed from the side it was somewhat confusing as the hairs themselves were mostly bicoloured.
Also the error in the key probably perplexed many trying to ID it.
TL Seow: Cheers.
Some interesting observations.
In the typical form the female A. friderici have a more prominent orange band than the female of A. phidippus.
This observation shows a female (note narrow notched HW 4th band)
The poor focus may have enlarge the orange band a bit
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/137129383
Compare this.
http://yutaka.it-n.jp/ama/50330010.html
Females A. phidippus.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/137606032
Pity this did not have an underside view.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/103097156
TL Seow: Cheers.
Dear Dr. Seow,
I am try to learn more about id of A.friderici - your illustration of abdominal upper hair tufts vs lower hair tufts is very enlightening.
Is there any online photo that shows the color difference of upper hair tufts vs lower hair tufts of A.friderici?
Thanks. Cheers, SL Liew
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psyche
Nope.
TL Seow: Cheers.