Graphium sp. from Luang Prabang area

[jmg]

Are these determinations for Tad Kouang Si's Graphium (Luang Prabang, Laos), July 19, correct?
Many thanks for helping !

Pathysa antiphates pompilius (Fabricius, 1787)
G. doson axion (C. & R. Felder, 1864)
G. eurypylus cheronus (Fruhstorfer, 1903)

[Adam Cotton]

All the blue Graphium are doson. The markings of the hindwing underside of the specimen you think is eurypylus does not look like that species at all.

However your 'subspecies' names are incorrect. "cheronus" was described as an infrasubspecific seasonal form. The correct name is Graphium eurypylus acheron (Moore, 1885). The name "axion" is a junior homonym and was replaced by axionides so the correct name is Graphium doson axionides (Page & Treadaway, 2014).

By the way there is a male of Graphium macareus indochinensis (Fruhstorfer, 1901) just above centre.

Adam.

[jmg]

Thank you so much !

My IDs were made using the Pisuth Ek-Amnuay's book. And the Yutaka's website gives also " Graphium doson axion (Felder & Felder,1864) (2014.07.05) ". You need an acurate eye to distinguish on the picture Graphium macareus indochinensis, called in Ek-Amnuay as Paranticopsis macareus indochinensis.

Again, many thanks !

A better view of Graphium macareus indochinensis :

[Adam Cotton]

My opinion, at least under current knowledge, is that Pathysa and Paranticopsis are at best subgenera of Graphium and not worth generic status, unless you love to split unnecessarily. It seems that Paranticopsis is internal to Pathysa anyway, it's just a mimetic sub-group.

Wait a couple more months and I will have news about the identity of Papilio pompilius Fabricius, 1787.

I will upload an underside photo of G. eurypylus acheron so you can see the underside differences. I think that probably that species was not in season then, but it is also worth noting that it is more local in distribution than G. doson.

Adam.

[Adam Cotton]

Here's the underside of a specimen of G. eurypylus acheron from Tad Xai, Thabok, Laos (29 March 2005):



Note the edge of the discal band usually forms a lobe above the hindwing cell, but sometimes only an indentation. The usual identification mark is the black band (with red mark near the costa) near the base of the hindwing connects with the marginal black band to form a Y. Sometimes this is not completely connected, but in doson it curves slightly away from the join. The submarginal spots in G. eurypylus are usually larger than in G. doson too.

Adam.

[Adam Cotton]

I should also mention that there is a 3rd very similar species in Laos, which is absent from Thailand, Graphium evemon albociliatus (Fruhstorfer, 1901). This is very similar to G. eurypylus in that the mark at the base of the hindwing underside is joined in a Y with a red bar near the costa (unlike G. evemon from Sundaland, which lacks the red mark). G. eurypylus and G. evemon can be distinguished by checking the lowest submarginal spot on the forewing upperside (cell CuA2). In G. eurypylus it is paired, whereas in both G. evemon and doson there is only a single spot (or sometimes a very small second spot) - this only applies to the upperside. Note also that the underside of G. eurypylus often has a pinkish sheen when fresh, not present in the other two species.

Adam.

[Adam Cotton]

Here's a comparison I just put together (note I haven't changed the labels to the correct ssp. names):