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Post by nomad on Jan 4, 2015 11:13:08 GMT
This is simply a lovely collection both scientifically and aesthetically. I am sure there maybe a paper on the way  |
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Post by mothylator on Apr 24, 2018 14:35:17 GMT
Col. 1 contains d. sulphurea from Bioko; the specimens are in poor condition, especially the females, but are impossible to obtain anymore. These were collected by Canu in the 1980s. Col. 2 #1-2 are d. ochraceana, restricted to two Kenyan mountains. The remainder of Col. 2 plus Col. 3 are d. flavicornis, restricted to Mt Kulal in Kenya; they're the same in pattern as ochraceana, but most interestingly have golden-yellow antennae, unlike all other ssp. The last 2 columns are males of d. polytrophus from the highlands of Central Kenya.  dardanus drawer 07 1405 by D B, on Flickr
I hope nobody objects to my resurrecting this thread?
I'm new here, and I'm marvelling at the breadth and depth of material on show, deliasfanatic. I do have a question about separating P. d. ochraceana vs P. d. polytrophus males.
I'm very interested in learning more about ssp. ochraceana, which I have never seen in any other collection till this pic. I read in Torben Larsen's Butterflies of Kenya exactly what you say, that it looks like flavicornis but with black antennae.
I can't find the re-description of P. d. ochracea (invalid. nom. preocc.; syn = ochraceana) with observations on ssp. flavicornis by Carpenter online anywhere....
So, can anyone help? What is / are the specific criteria separating dardanus ssp. ochraceana from polytrophus?
With sincere thanks, particularly deliasfanatic for sharing The Most Amazing personal series. Andrew.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Apr 24, 2018 18:13:19 GMT
Hi Andrew - Thanks for your comments and kind words! And of course you are more than welcome to resurrect any old threads that interest you.
I haven't seen many ochraceana specimens - the pair shown here, plus a small series (3 M + 2 ochreous F) in a friend's collection are all that I've seen. I've just had another look at my photo of the latter, and I don't see that male ochraceana can be consistently separated from polytrophus since they lack the distinctive orange-yellow antennae of flavicornis. Males of the latter also frequently have prominent yellow spots within the FW black area, as you see in my third male; my ochracea male has a much diminished version of that, but the 3 specimens in my friend's collection have no yellow spots at all.
The females of the two Kenyan endemic species are distinct and easy to separate from all others. Of course those of flavicornis have orange-yellow antennae, while those of ochraceana are black. However, the females' HW submarginal spots have a shape that differs from others; I think of them as being shaped like deer tracks, especially in flavicornis. Female ochraceana also occurs in a white ("hippocoonides") form, but it's quite rare; neither my friend nor I have one. The third flavicornis female form ("speciosa") is not known in ochraceana.
I hope this is helpful!
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Post by Adam Cotton on Apr 24, 2018 18:36:41 GMT
Males of the latter also frequently have prominent yellow spots within the FW black area, as you see in my third male This seems very unusual, do you know of other subspecies often with these extra spots? Adam. PS. I sent a copy of Carpenter (1948) to Andrew. |
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Post by deliasfanatic on Apr 24, 2018 19:06:02 GMT
Males of the latter also frequently have prominent yellow spots within the FW black area, as you see in my third male This seems very unusual, do you know of other subspecies often with these extra spots? Adam. PS. I sent a copy of Carpenter (1948) to Andrew. Very rarely - I've seen one nominate and one polytrophus male with a trace of the spots, but nothing prominent as one sees in the Kenyan endemics. EDIT - I looked at my photo on this page and saw that two of my polytrophus males also have slight spotting - so, make that 3 that I've seen! |
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Post by mothylator on Apr 24, 2018 23:42:39 GMT
The information about identification of the females is MOST helpful - I didn't know that at all. I've received a sample copy of the Carpenter reference from Adam - thanks Very Much, Adam. I'll pore over it and see if it answers my questions.
You guys - just amazing! - thanks. Andrew.
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Post by mothylator on Apr 25, 2018 11:25:14 GMT
The females of the two Kenyan endemic species are distinct and easy to separate from all others...the females' HW submarginal spots have a shape that differs from others; I think of them as being shaped like deer tracks, especially in flavicornis. I hope this is helpful! Is this what you mean? kind of wedge-shaped HW spots in opposing pairs...? 
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Post by deliasfanatic on Apr 25, 2018 13:17:50 GMT
Yes.
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Post by mcheki on Apr 25, 2018 16:24:30 GMT
Sorry but this is a hasty response to the above latest conversation. This drawer contains the above subspecies including columns 5 and 6 which I believe are ssp: ochaceana these have been bred by Sir Cyril Clarke. Please note that they are still labelled as ssp: ochracea as this was done before the name update. I hope it is self-explanatory but will check out other points if needed as it is a couple of years since I did the drawer.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Apr 25, 2018 18:28:22 GMT
Did you obtain these superb specimens directly from Sir Cyril? I used to know him back in about 1980 before I moved out to Thailand, amazing man.
I note that 2 of your flavicornis males have those interesting FW submarginal spots.
Adam.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Apr 25, 2018 18:41:18 GMT
Did you obtain these superb specimens directly from Sir Cyril? I used to know him back in about 1980 before I moved out to Thailand, amazing man. I note that 2 of your flavicornis males have those interesting FW submarginal spots. Adam. I've checked my friend's drawer photo; of 8 male flavicornis, only 2 have no spots. One has a trace, two have heavy spotting, and three are intermediate. |
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 26, 2018 7:21:25 GMT
These 2 blue ssp. sulfurea females are fantastic, Danny ! Hard to believe they are dardanus females, so different from other females ! Evolution is stunning ! |
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Post by africaone on Apr 26, 2018 7:29:46 GMT
Great collection Danny  Again, I am afraid to see a so interesting group without any consistent systematic. as for many others in Africa such as phorcas, nireus, etc..... One had been afraid in the past to study them because of great polyphormism but today genetic can help to solve main problems, espacially in this genus where it seems to works vey well. |
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Post by xavm (Xavier) on May 2, 2018 9:27:40 GMT
I am really impressed. Fantastic drawers, thank you for sharing.
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Post by mothylator on Feb 13, 2021 14:47:49 GMT
Again asking a question from this thread, if that's OK deliasfanatic ? I noticed in your dardanus drawer#2, Col.5 #4, you have a male f. semimelas, Basquin & Turlin, 1986, Bulletin de la Société Sciences Nat (49) 22. There's another image of this form in Steve Collins' ABRI Papilionidae issue of the Butterflies of the World booklets (Vol 42, Pl.11/3). I have 2 identical ones in my collection, and one nearly completely transitioned from the aberration Col.5,#3 in same drawer (Pl.11/2 in the booklet). Thank you very much for giving me the authors for this form. I've been looking for a published description and any further info on this for aeons. I can't find this article anywhere, and the journal (which ceased from 1995) isn't held locally. Until I get hold of a copy (help would be appreciated) - I wondered, does anyone know how frequent this form is? Does it only occur in nominate subspecies? |
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