ID request: Yellow Archduke? USR

[Yam Tim Wing]

Dear Dr Seow,

May I know if the attached is a Yellow Archduke or Dark Archduke?

Thank you.

Tim

[Psyche]

It is a female Lexias canescens.

There is a series of 5 spots parallel to the lower margin of the FW.
The 3rd spot (ie middle of the five) is single .

The male have the antennal tip black.
In the female the tip is orange shaded black .

Males.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X5LrsCHXB...hduke-KSK3.jpg
Below, note 3rd spot is partially split.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jVWJ0uJjG...-DavidChan.jpg

Females.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aFDi932jw...uke-KohCH2.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ojWkHn5QE...hduke-JonS.jpg

Pair. The fresh female is at the bottom.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fSFenHiLU...e-NelsonO2.jpg



In L. pardalis & dirtea females, the 3rd spot is completely split into two.


Female L. pardalis.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...n_archduke.jpg

Female L. dirtea.
https://www.butterflycircle.com/chec...erick%20Ho.jpg



TL Seow: Cheers.

[Yam Tim Wing]

Thank you, Dr Seow.

[Yam Tim Wing]

Hi Dr Seow,

Do you think the attached is Lexias pardalis? _DSC3916_01.JPG

[Psyche]

Post 3.
Female Lexias dirtea. (Possibly some gene introgression from L. pardalis.)


LEXIAS1.png
In the past there have been some confusion between L. dirtea & pardalis.


Lexias pardalis .
Antennal club with the apical third orange.
This orange extend all round the club, though occasionally a thin black line may continue to the tip.
The underside of the club is orange.
The female generally have yellow spots, & the 4th spot parallel to the lower margin is more elliptic.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/120917103
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/137251675
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/145488952
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165903737
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/172506114
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/184680007
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121981372


Lexias dirtea.
Antennal club all black above.The black may be wanting along the edges.
Underside of club orange as in L. pardalis.( This has cause a lot of confusion.)
Side view of club shows black extending to the tip along the upper edge.
Female 4th spot tend to be long & narrow; spots more often white & blue tinged.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112828149
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/128747587
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143999120
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153806407
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155277769
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/175484832
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/183618229

There are many examples which appear intermediate.
The two species are very closely related & could easily cross.

eg. The apical third of the antennal club appear to be lightly dark-shaded.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/181493424

General yellower appearance suggest L. pardalis.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/172974879

The topside of the club have the black extending to the tip.
A top view would help a great deal.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/127114530

TL Seow: Cheers.

[Yam Tim Wing]

Thank you Dr Seow, that is very interesting. There are natural hybrids around. Next time I shall try to take photos from different angles.
Tim

[Yam Tim Wing]

Hi Dr Seow, I also come across these two Lexias canescens. The one on the right is much bigger.
Tim_DSC3905_01.JPG_DSC3909_01.JPG

[Psyche]

Post 7.

Mst likely the left one is male & the right one is female.
The sexes can be very hard to separate.
Even females may have the antennae very dark in fieldshots.

[Psyche]

Hi Dr Seow,

Do you think the attached is Lexias pardalis? _DSC3916_01.JPG

In this previous shot, there appear to be a strong hybrid element.
In normal L. pardalis the orange antennal tip is visible without any adjustment.
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.ama...2114/large.jpg
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.ama...9634/large.jpg
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.ama...0614/large.jpg

Likewise for L. dirtea. the antennal tip is clearly black.
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.ama...448/large.jpeg
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.ama...2904/large.jpg
https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.ama...9869/large.jpg

This one looks intermediate but does have a lot of black shading on top.
I feel it is closer to L. dirtea.
But do make your own judgement.




TL Seow:Cheers.

[Yam Tim Wing]

Thank you so much, Dr Seow.