This one started as a misnomer: I couldn't find a match on plates 49-50 of the C&P and so I used contextual clues - it was nectaring with quite a number of D. epijarbas on the same patch of Siam Weed and we were just about a month from the last heavy rains. The rain had contributed to a spurt of growth and finally synchronized flowering en-masse of the Siam Weed everywhere along forested trunk roads in Raub which had drawn out quite a number of lycaenids. If you check the markings on the undersides of the specimen, it looks like a reverse-carbon copy of D. epijarbas and so well, I thought it ought to be an aberrated form due to weather changes. It was thus posted on the blog as such under D. epijarbas:
http://nlliew66butterflies.blogspot.com/search/label/Genus%20Deudorix%20%28Hewitson%29
Then, on the 8th of April 2014, Dr Seow sent me a notice informing that this is a new record for D. diara (Swinhoe) for the Peninsular Malaysia - the other person having the same record in Thailand was Les Day of Samui Butterflies. Check this thread:
http://www.butterflycircle.com/showthread.php?14515-Deudorix-diara-New-to-Thailand-amp-Malaya
A check with Dr. Kirton confirms the same point of view and we shall see soon if any further verifications will reveal anything about this exciting find (yet to have collected a voucher specimen, something which I am not looking forward to do but in the name of science, well, and then there is always the possibility of not coming across it anymore in the future...). It was thought to occurs only in Assam, Myanmar, Java and Sabah -skipping Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. So the discovery of it might complete the puzzle of a disjuncted geographical distribution. However, as Dr Kirton pointed out, it would be useful to further investigate as Deudorix can be dispersed by human through agricultural and horticultural plants. So for now, it will be tentatively a new record for Raub (and Peninsular Malaysia).
Frequency observation chart: (S marks the usual occurences, H mark an unusually high occurence, F for first record)
http://nlliew66butterflies.blogspot.com/search/label/Genus%20Deudorix%20%28Hewitson%29
Then, on the 8th of April 2014, Dr Seow sent me a notice informing that this is a new record for D. diara (Swinhoe) for the Peninsular Malaysia - the other person having the same record in Thailand was Les Day of Samui Butterflies. Check this thread:
http://www.butterflycircle.com/showthread.php?14515-Deudorix-diara-New-to-Thailand-amp-Malaya
A check with Dr. Kirton confirms the same point of view and we shall see soon if any further verifications will reveal anything about this exciting find (yet to have collected a voucher specimen, something which I am not looking forward to do but in the name of science, well, and then there is always the possibility of not coming across it anymore in the future...). It was thought to occurs only in Assam, Myanmar, Java and Sabah -skipping Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. So the discovery of it might complete the puzzle of a disjuncted geographical distribution. However, as Dr Kirton pointed out, it would be useful to further investigate as Deudorix can be dispersed by human through agricultural and horticultural plants. So for now, it will be tentatively a new record for Raub (and Peninsular Malaysia).
Habitat indicator
RSP
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WV
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PG
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VF
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FTR
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SC
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LWDF
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LWPF
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LMEF
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UMN
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MN
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x
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Frequency observation chart: (S marks the usual occurences, H mark an unusually high occurence, F for first record)
2013
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2014
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Mac
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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| S3(F) | |||||||||||
2014
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2015
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Mac
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Apr
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May
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June
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Compare this pix of D. epijarbas to the one above it of D. diara...D. diara looks like a reverse-carbon copy.
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Above photos from 11 January 2014 @ 14:20.
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