Southeastern Asian Butterflies

[nomad]

Congrats Paul. I see your earlier posts here all disappeared courtesy of that hosting company.

[Paul K]

Feb 4, 2018 12:43:54 GMT nomad said:

Congrats Paul. I see your earlier posts here all disappeared courtesy of that hosting company.

Indeed, I will have to reload them when I have some time.

[Paul K]

I recently spent two weeks on Ko Phangan one of the islands in Gulf of Thailand. Unfortunately butterflies season was not at its pick in January and only few butterflies can be seen here and there. However I had a chance to meet Antonio Giudici who's also a member of ICF and lives with his family on Ko Phangan. Antonio is a great photographer with knowledge of Thai butterflies and with great experience of organizing butterflies trips around Thailand. We had a really good time going few times to the mountains of Ko Phangan in search for new species and I hope we will have the chance again in the future to go butterflies together.

Photo of Antonio ( right ) and me at his Italian restaurant


Did I mention that Antonio's pizza is one of the best I've ever eat...

Paul

[Adam Cotton]

Antonio was a good friend of Ting. I have only met him a couple of times, but he's a very interesting and knowledgeable butterfly photographer.

Did you find Byasa adamsoni on Koh Phangan? Ting caught a few for me there a few years ago. They are ssp. takakoae, all much darker than ssp. adamsoni and much less variable than the ones on Koh Tao.

Adam.

[Paul K]

Feb 4, 2018 20:38:14 GMT Adam Cotton said:

Antonio was a good friend of Ting. I have only met him a couple of times, but he's a very interesting and knowledgeable butterfly photographer.

Did you find Byasa adamsoni on Koh Phangan? Ting caught a few for me there a few years ago. They are ssp. takakoae, all much darker than ssp. adamsoni and much less variable than the ones on Koh Tao.

Adam.

I didn’t collect any B.adamsoni, I haven’t seen even one.
It is very common on Ko Tao and I collected few for Inayoshi this time.
I suspect he would like to determinate what ssp. occurs on island.
As per Antonio B.adamsoni is uncommon on Ko Phangan and I also didn’t find it on Ko Samui at the same season as in Ko Tao.
Paul

[Adam Cotton]

Byasa adamsoni is quite seasonal, but it can be common on the hill near the south of Koh Phangan in season, more common than on Koh Samui. Ting collected them 31 March - 2 April 2013, and they were already a bit worn then. Probably mid March would be good.

Adam.

[Paul K]

Feb 5, 2018 10:03:27 GMT Adam Cotton said:

Byasa adamsoni is quite seasonal, but it can be common on the hill near the south of Koh Phangan in season, more common than on Koh Samui. Ting collected them 31 March - 2 April 2013, and they were already a bit worn then. Probably mid March would be good.

Adam.

In Koh Tao B.adamsoni is common from Dec to end of February.
There could be another generation in April but I was never there that time. It is interesting how different seasons could be within such a small distance island by island.

Paul

[Paul K]

Kaniska canace canace

Beautiful Blue admiral can be commonly observed in forested areas in most parts of Northern Thailand.
The photo of this specimen was taken near Chiang Mai but I have found this species in Ko Phangan and Ko Samui also.
The peninsular subspecies perakana is rather rare and occurs in Yala Province near Malayan border and is distinguish by wider blue band.

[trehopr1]

Very pretty species Paul ! Love the "robin's egg" blue color of it's blue banding in contrast to the black. There are many quite ordinary (common) Lepidoptera which exhibit some nice contrasting colors. Leps will always be #1 with me.... If only I could collect them with the fervor Lord Rothschild did.

[Paul K]

Papilio alcmenor publilius

This large butterfly inhabits mountainous regions of Northern Thailand and males can be observed when mud puddling.
It is not uncommon species around Chiang Mai but I only found it abundant in one of many visited locations.
Females are rarely seen and they are mimics of poisonous Byasa polyeuctes which also occurs in the same areas. 

Mud puddling male

[Adam Cotton]

If this is from Chiang Mai (the photo looks like the stream at Thep Sadet) it is ssp. publilius which is different to ssp. alcmenor mainly on the anal angle of the hindwing upperside, which is not visible in this photo. This subspecies is found in Shan States, Mae Hongson, Chiang Mai southwards down the Dawna range bordering western Thailand and southern Burma. Note that in eastern Thailand and Laos you can find ssp. alcmenor, the same as NE India, northern Burma and Yunnan.

Adam.

[Paul K]

It is stream at Thep Sadet.
Indeed it is ssp.publilius, I can see it now in Kimura's book too. I was suggested by Inayoshi's website where it shows ssp.alcmenor.

Thank you Adam for correction.

Paul

PS. It is my 1000th post here on IFC 🍻

[Adam Cotton]

Yes, originally Inayoshi treated publilius as a synonym, and hasn't updated the page.

I thought I recognised the place, having stood at that exact point myself.

Congratulations on your 1,000th post. I wish there were more people posting as often.

Adam.

[Paul K]

Orsotriaena medus medus

Central Laos.

Rainy day today although it is the middle of dry season in this part of Asia.
However few of Orsotriaena medus medus butterflies sharing sweet organic watermelon with local farmers.
Common species around the forests but also inhabits farmlands and waistlands.
This is dry season form with reduced ocelli.

[Paul K]

Pyrops candelaria (Fulgoridae)

Central Laos.

I found the group of this beautiful insects feeding on Longan tree trunk. They use their needle like proboscis to pierce the tree trunk and drink sap.
Hindwings are bright yellow compare to camouflage on the forewings.