Baoris sp. Which one?

[horace2264]

Found this rather large skipper in late afternoon sun visiting flowers.
Looks like a Baoris sp., but I am not of the species name.

[Psyche]

Baoris Note HW pale cellend mark & banded abdomen.

The colour in photos are very confusing.
Baoris oceia is not found in India or China & B. farri is relatively common there.
Full spotted pix there are B. farri.
B. farri. males.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/itchyd...es/7863317448/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/itchyd...es/8170927664/
Newly eclosed male (colour setting dark.
http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/med...Saji_ad697.jpg
Worn female.
http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/med...ekar_ag365.jpg
Probable female Singapore.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur...art=54&ndsp=24

B. oceia Singapore male & female Note reduced subapical spot.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/check...-Simon-Sng.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0rwJjrQ_JS...oris+oceia.jpg

I am not sure if the differences stated below are valid.
B. oceia is darker , HW cilia dark mostly.
B. farri is lighter, more often full-spotted. HW cilia edging lighter for greater length, ?variable due to lighting. (statement corrected)

This individual has very large spots, & should be B. farri.

TL Seow

[horace2264]

Thanks, Dr Seow for the species id.

The Baoris skipper I posted in this old thread has small subapical spots on the FW, but it was identified as a Baoris farri back then.
Was it due to the lighter brown coloration of the body and the HW cilia?

[Psyche]

Thanks, Dr Seow for the species id.

The Baoris skipper I posted in this old thread has small subapical spots on the FW, but it was identified as a Baoris farri back then.
Was it due to the lighter brown coloration of the body and the HW cilia?

Yes. Actually the size of the spots does not matter.
B. farri is much more likely to have the full complement of spots than other species.
The female in post 1 has very large spots visible, ie. subapicals 6, 7, 8, spot 4 & an upper cellspot, indicating a full complement.
In the key of C&P4 the B. farri female is stated to be always fully spotted.
This statement must be taken to mean 99% true, keeping in mind the occassional extreme variation.

Baoris oceia often have reduced number & size of spots.

In C&P4 Plate 60 the oceia male has spots 2 & 3, missing 4, two subapicals (6 & 7)missing 8, & only a lower cell-spot.
The female oceia shown has two subapicals (missing 8) & spot 4 almost obsolete.

In contrast both sexes of B. farri shown are fully spotted.

I am still not sure if the lighter wing & cilia colour separate the two species.
This is because C&P4 states the two species can be very difficult to ID without genitalia examination.
Probably it is refering to old or worn specimens collected.

However, here is a mating pair from Raub, Malaya.
The male (left) looks like farri ; the darker female (right) looks like oceia though with full subapicals.
Could this be just an interspecies makeout?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qamQjeKIkj...0/DSC_0273.JPG

TL Seow
PS. I have just thought of something.
The mating pair in the link may not be Baoris.
The male underside is ferruginous & the female has an ochreous tone to the brown.
Low lighting darkens the colour.
The male's banded abdomen can be due to overstretching.
The familiar pale HW cellend mark often seen in the female Baoris is absent.
It could very well be a mating pair of Caltoris malaya, thus confusing the picture.

[Psyche]

Yup, the mating pair in the link should be Caltoris malaya.

These group of skippers are so similar they are easily confused.
In the past I have ID'ed many as Caltoris bromus as the closest match, including Baoris females.

Five species of Caltoris are present in Singapore namely C. bromus, cahira, malaya, cormasa, & philippina.

However, I think two more are present.

Probable Caltoris brunnea. Two cellspots ; HW dark purple-brown.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0EK80AsaR7...8-Caltoris.jpg

Probable Caltoris plebeia. No cellspot; HW deep purplish ferruginous. This was ID'ed as C. bromus.
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...omusedited.jpg

TL Seow

[horace2264]

Thanks, Dr Seow for sharing the additional information on the differences between the two Baoris spp., and the id features of various Caltoris spp.
These brown skippers are so similar on the undersides. It really takes an expert's trained eye to tell the differences.

If these other Caltoris spp. are present in Singapore, it would just be a matter of time one of us run into one and have it confirmed.

[Silverstreak]

Dr. Seow and Horace,

From the field today on the same individual...... having a headache trying to pin it down !

Cheers!

Can produce specimen if require.....

[Psyche]

A fine male Caltoris bromus bromus this time.
(note in C. bromus & cahira, the 2 subapical spots are usually very clear in contrast with cormasa.)
The HW is overlaid with ochreous-brown scaling.

This Thai C cahira though female shows its darker chocolate scaling on the HW.
http://www.insect-hunter.com/attachm...8%94-jpg.2382/

TL Seow :Cheers.

[Silverstreak]

Thanks Dr. Seow !

Horace, Let me pass you the specimen for setting and comparison with the others you have done .

Cheers !

[horace2264]

Thanks Dr. Seow !

Horace, Let me pass you the specimen for setting and comparison with the others you have done .

Sure. I will try to set it as best as I can.