The T. aeacus that I've seen in Malaysia, and have records thereof, are much smaller than any of the other Troides. It's also described as such in both C&P4 and Fleming2 (where average wingspans are given in the species' data)
Wasn't aware that malaiianus and thomsonii were synonymous. Learnt something new today.
The Leopard Lacewings appeared quite suddenly, from records on the Malaysian side. Other that having reached Penang, I have not come across any other article that describes C. cyane's movements down south, although the postulation is very possible, as it shares the same host plant as A. violae. However, C. cyane is a popular species in Butterfly Farms here and abroad, and due to its prolific breeding, it could have been either one of the two subspecies appearing suddenly.
Hence I would not be so quick to eliminate ssp cyane as the one appearing in Singapore.
In any case, I have not been able to find anything documented on the differences between the two subspecies. Dr Kirton is not sure either, and in his update to C&P4 with the late Col Eliot, left the species as C. cyane even on the Malaysian front, until I suppose there are more detailed studies on the two subspecies to determine which one it is.
On another note, when we discovered the Ancyra Blue (Catopyrops ancyra), we also left it at the species level, as the Malaysian subspecies aberrans is quite rare. It was postulated that the one found in Singapore could somehow be the Philippines subspecies. Again, without any detailed scientific proof, we are not sure which subspecies it is.
Finally got hold of my Pinratana yesterday, and, yes, he says the T. aeacus ssp found in peninsular Thailand and Malaysia is much smaller. He also does not mention the spots as a means of ID either. He also calls it T.a. thomsoni. I do wish there was a central committee to decide what is the correct name, it is very confusing. thomsoni was named by Bates in 1875 and malaiianus by Fruhstorfer in 1902 so I guess we should use the former.
I now have my doubts as to whether I have seen T. helena or T. aeacus aeacus, as I had ID'd using the spots method. I will have to net and release to confirm.
It seems I will have to cross reference my two sources before making a firm ID for any sp/ssp I see in the future. The Ek-Amnuay is much easier to carry around with me but I am beginning to have my doubts about his identifying descriptions. Shame the Lycaenidae pics of Pinratana are so poor.
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