Comparison between two 'Archdukes'

[Common Rose]

A comparison of the undersides of the two Archdukes.

1. Female Lexias pardalis dirteana (Archduke). More bluish underside.


2. Lexias canescens pardalina (Yellow Archduke). More yellow underside.

[Elbowed Pierrot]

here is my contribution

yellow archduke

[Cruiser]

Hi Neo thanks for teh comparison but where did you get the com name "Yellow Archduke"

[Common Rose]

Nice specimen, Simon, but the label in your pic is wrong . Don't confuse pple more. :bsmileo:

BJ, we decide to nickname it Yellow Archduke first.

[Elbowed Pierrot]

oops, thats a old pic.. will update it

[Sky Blue]

Nice specimen, Simon, but the label in your pic is wrong . Don't confuse pple more. :bsmileo:

BJ, we decide to nickname it Yellow Archduke first.

cannot anyhow name it lah, r we confirmed this really a sub-species / new species (from scientific stand point) or just some sample variation

[Common Rose]

cannot anyhow name it lah, r we confirmed this really a sub-species / new species (from scientific stand point) or just some sample variation

It's a nickname, not a common name. The id characteristic of the "Yellow Archduke" is the yellowish underside (hence the nickname), as compare to the bluish underside of the Archduke.

See C&P4 pg 190 for the key separation of the two species.

[Sky Blue]

anyway, to me nick name no different from common name, i think common name also do not required scientific prove

[Commander]

anyway, to me nick name no different from common name, i think common name also do not required scientific prove

It's ok to have some 'nicks' that make a butt easier to call. However, it depends on the audience and who we are discussing with. For the scientific community, the Latin names are a must, as the common names are usually seen as "amateurish" and unreliable.

But for the common layman, the common names/nicks are preferred. I remember the times when BIG used to conduct public walks. Whenever we did not have a common name, we called out the scientific names, and we would get strange looks from the walk participants.

So, in an informal way, we can use (or "invent") new common names but of course there must be some valid reference to the physical characteristics of the butt that we coin the name for.

[Commander]

I was reading some materials from HK ... I find their Chinese name for butterflies very wierd. Cant understand why they are using those common names or chinese translation. Maybe time to improve on Chinese.

Heh... then wait till you read the Taiwanese version of the Chinese common names. Even more confusing. I believe there was some discussion earlier between Ben Jin and Gan on the Chinese names. The HK names were preferred over the Taiwanese names as we follow the One-China policy.