ming
New Aurelian
Posts: 10 
Country: Taiwan
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Post by ming on Nov 11, 2017 2:55:17 GMT
 Papilio hopponis, female The upperside is on the left and the underside is on the right . I'm a junior collector from Taiwan. It's really exciting to read your threads on the website. Here is a female P. hopponis which I caught in central Taiwan in October, 2017. The species is endemic to Taiwan and closely related to P. arcturus from indochina. You can definitely find some similarities in their hindwings, whereas the underside of p. hopponis is quite unique and very different from any other members of Achillides subgenus. Normally, they only appear on mountains over 1000m-2000m. And that's why i have to drive hours to see them....Hope you guys enjoy the photo. Ming |
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Post by trehopr1 on Nov 11, 2017 6:12:39 GMT
A very nice personal capture on your part. The blue/red upper side really "pops" and is quite striking. The underside is equally nice with all that crimson red. Cannot say I've ever seen it before but, then I'm not a papilionid specialist. Lots of nice Achillides out there... Your country also hosts another especially nice and very much desired species -- Papilio maraho. Ever seen one or collected it? If so, show us what you got !
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Post by mygos on Nov 11, 2017 9:35:26 GMT
Your country also hosts another especially nice and very much desired species -- Papilio maraho. Ever seen one or collected it? If so, show us what you got ! I think the answer is yes looking at Ming avatar  A+, Michel |
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Post by Adam Cotton on Nov 11, 2017 13:55:03 GMT
Papilio maraho. Ever seen one or collected it? If so, show us what you got ! I rather doubt that Ming (welcome to the forum!) will post a photo of a dead specimen unless it is very old. It is perfectly legal to photograph live ones in the wild, but this species has high level protection under Taiwanese law. Adam. PS. I must congratulate Ming for using the correct name Papilio hopponis rather than hoppo which is a junior synonym. |
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ming
New Aurelian
Posts: 10
Country: Taiwan
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Post by ming on Nov 11, 2017 15:32:13 GMT
A very nice personal capture on your part. The blue/red upper side really "pops" and is quite striking. The underside is equally nice with all that crimson red. Cannot say I've ever seen it before but, then I'm not a papilionid specialist. Lots of nice Achillides out there... Your country also hosts another especially nice and very much desired species -- Papilio maraho. Ever seen one or collected it? If so, show us what you got ! Hahaha...the spotlight shifted from P. hopponis to Agehana(or Papilio would be better?) maraho right away. I was trying to take one step at a time. I always think that the particularity of P. hopponis has long been underestimated in Taiwan.(probably because it’s not protected?) And I know that many foreign aurelians have a huge obsession with Achillides sp.. I don’t have Agehana maraho in my collection. But I would love to share some photos I took earlier this year. |
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ming
New Aurelian
Posts: 10
Country: Taiwan
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Post by ming on Nov 11, 2017 15:35:06 GMT
Your country also hosts another especially nice and very much desired species -- Papilio maraho. Ever seen one or collected it? If so, show us what you got ! I think the answer is yes looking at Ming avatar A+, Michel You got me! |
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ming
New Aurelian
Posts: 10
Country: Taiwan
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Post by ming on Nov 11, 2017 16:01:58 GMT
Papilio maraho. Ever seen one or collected it? If so, show us what you got ! I rather doubt that Ming (welcome to the forum!) will post a photo of a dead specimen unless it is very old. It is perfectly legal to photograph live ones in the wild, but this species has high level protection under Taiwanese law. Adam. PS. I must congratulate Ming for using the correct name Papilio hopponis rather than hoppo which is a junior synonym. You know quite a lot about my country! A. maraho is a top rarity in Taiwan and it’s listed as a endangered(and protected) species (Together with Sasakia charonda formosana and Troides magellanus). Thank you for welcoming me. |
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Post by Adam Cotton on Nov 11, 2017 17:00:49 GMT
I don’t have Agehana maraho in my collection. But I would love to share some photos I took earlier this year. I don't think that Agehana is really a valid separate genus; maraho and elwesi were separated basically on the basis of having 2 veins in the tail, but in reality they are tailless species with a narrowed and elongate hindwing which looks like a tail. These are actually related to the Pterourus group of American species. Many people treat these as a separate genus from Papilio, but I prefer to regard Pterourus as a subgenus within Papilio. Splitting at generic level only hides the relatively close relationship between these butterflies, useful information for non-experts that would be lost through splitting. Please do post photos of live maraho, I am sure they will be of interest to very many forum members and guests. Adam. PS. I don't really know that much about Taiwan in general as I have never been there, but I do know a fair amount about its Papilionidae. |
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Post by Adam Cotton on Nov 11, 2017 18:23:36 GMT
I have heard that machaon is extinct in Taiwan, is it true?? I recently heard that sylvina has not been seen at all since the 1999 earthquake caused massive landslides in the habitat, despite the foodplant still being present in the areas it used to frequent. If it really is extinct it is rather sad news. Seyer placed machaon from Fujian under sylvina but that isn't really different to machaon from other parts of central and eastern China. I have a single specimen of sylvina in my collection, from Heng Ch'un 1972, and a pair of specimens obtained from David Cassat dated 2008 which are obviously bred and don't look like real sylvina to me. The data labels of those say 'Taipei' so probably they were bred there by Drowmow. I suspect the breeding stock came from mainland China. Adam. |
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Post by Adam Cotton on Nov 11, 2017 19:06:07 GMT
Here's a photo of my poor quality specimen. It is quite distinct from mainland Chinese machaon:  Apparently many people have been looking for it in the various known localities in the Taiwanese mountains, but no-one has seen it since 1999. Whether the earthquake was the direct cause of its demise, or other factors had previously threatened its existence is unclear, but I would be very surprised that even a really strong earthquake like the one in 1999 could actually cause its extinction on its own. Adam. |
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ming
New Aurelian
Posts: 10
Country: Taiwan
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Post by ming on Nov 12, 2017 4:04:11 GMT
 Here's a photo taken in Yilan county in May, 2017. This male Agehana(Papilio) maraho was drinking water at the riverside(700m). |
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ming
New Aurelian
Posts: 10
Country: Taiwan
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Post by ming on Nov 12, 2017 4:37:19 GMT
How about Minois nagasawae, Gonepteryx taiwana and Papilio machaon sylvina?? I have heard that machaon is extinct in Taiwan, is it true?? I've never seen any living Papilio machaon sylvina before. I also heard that it disappeared after the earthquake in 1999. There are many amateur butterfly photographers looking for it in recent years. But so far I haven't seen any photo of this species was taken after 1999. |
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ming
New Aurelian
Posts: 10
Country: Taiwan
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Post by ming on Nov 12, 2017 4:47:22 GMT
 A close-up look. |
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Post by wollastoni on Nov 12, 2017 16:59:24 GMT
Wow, what a splendid butterfly !
Congrats for the picture, ming !
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ming
New Aurelian
Posts: 10
Country: Taiwan
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Post by ming on Nov 13, 2017 15:04:51 GMT
Wow, what a splendid butterfly ! Congrats for the picture, ming ! Thank you! |
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