I got a specimen of Papilio memnon ♀ from Bali Is. and it seems very white compared with other individuals. Is it form hiera ? I also got several other ones from Bali Is., Buru Is. as well as Java Is. Are they f. isarcha and f. hiera respectively? How many forms of tailess female P. memnon ...

It is interesting that the extreme white forms seem to be restricted to the 'summer' (wet season) generation in nature. They occur naturally in Indochina too.

I selectively bred extreme versions of these over a period of many years, which were almost entirely white, and these were not seasonal ...

Spectacular. Are those truly naturally occurring or maybe bred in that region?


Thay are all wild-caught. The left hindwing of the individual in Figure 1 was damaged. Therefore, I made a mirror image of the right one, so it seems odd.
In these resions of China, the white females can be seen ...

I have got a very white female Papilio agenor specimen from Hainan, China. It is very attractive for me because of its beautiful colour. And pic 3 list several white specimens I kept, and I find that the white individuals often distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan as summer generation ...

Apart from P. agenor pryeri there are also other Lepidoptera named after him, such as Ambulyx pryeri (Sphingidae) that I can think of straight away.

Adam.


I can think of two more named after him.
Neptis pryeri
Artopoetes pryeri

Kuni

Artopoetes pryeri


Thank you very much, Kuni. ^0^

Yes, pryeri is named after Henry Pryer (1850-1888), who wrote Rhopalocera nihonica: a description of the butterflies of Japan which is available here: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/69314.

Here is his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_James_Stovin_Pryer

Apart ...

Often the same distribution patterns are repeated for many different butterflies, not only between Japanese islands but many places around the world.

On the other hand there are exceptions too, with one species or subspecies crossing between islands when another one does not.

Adam.


Thanks ...

At a guess Tokara Is. agenor is probably ssp. thunbergii , but I haven't seen any specimens. If you remember P. dehaanii occurs on the Tokara Islands, rather than P. ryukyuensis .

Adam.


Thanks for your help, and I remember the distributions of P. dehaanii and P. ryukyuensis . That has ...

This is typical of spring form ssp. agenor , but some specimens lack this red mark. However, in iriomotensis the red mark can be as well developed as in the female, and also is present in the summer form.

The subspecies in the Amami Islands is pryeri like Okinawa, sorry I didn't specify this ...

This is a typical pair of ssp. thunbergii .

Ssp. iriomotensis only occurs on the Yaeyama Islands (Iriomote and Ishigaki) not far from Taiwan, with ssp. pryeri in Okinawa Island between that and thunbergii . Interestingly the male of ssp. iriomotensis has a distinct red mark at the base of the ...

I' ve got a pair of specimens of Papilio agenor from Nagasaki, Japan (Fed in 2024). It is interesting that the hindwings of the female. As we can see in pic 2, there are several white path without scales on the hindwings, and I donot know whether it is common in this ssp.thunbergii, for I have not ...

Maybe you can obtain a copy of the book Endo, T. & Y. Kishida 1999. Day-Flying Moths. Chalcosiinae • Epicopeia. Endless Collection Series, Vol. 8. Endless Science Information, Tokyo. 120pp.

This illustrates various known species of Epicopeia with many photos of Epicopeia polydora .

Adam ...

Chuck wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2025 3:26 pm I was unaware of this moth- very interesting!

Thanks, it is really Interesting, for there are soooo many phenotype variation of this species.

They usually have elongate hindwings and look like Byasa species. In places where there are black Byasa lacking white hindwing patches the Epicopeia are similarly black.

The Thais call this "moth kha nahm" (spiny legged moth), because the spines on the legs are very sharp.

Adam.


Thanks Adam ...

I' ve got a specimen of Epicopeia polydora , whose hindwings are very short without tailes. The white patch on its hindwings are very different with other individuals I have seen before. And it seems like some members of genus Atrophaneura , and does it mimic-form? How can I get some information or ...

This malformation of the forewing costa was caused by incomplete closure of the forewing case on the right side of the pupa after shedding the pre-pupal skin.

If these specimens originate from southern Xishuangbanna the white inner hindwing edge is part of the mimicry of Losaria doubledayi which ...

While on the topic, allow me to share some photos from an individual I've been following on Twitter. He is a collector and breeder based in Okinawa who - for the past few years, it seems - has been selectively breeding P. agenor in order to produce individuals with extreme white pigmentation. He ...

I seem to remember this came from W Sumatra, where the yellow L. coon does not occur, but perhaps it is from S Sumatra, where L. coon is found in the far south. The pale hindwing spots (even though in the wrong position) combined with the white 'head' sends two signals.

No, form anura is rather ...

I've got several specimens farmed in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. And some of them are malformed but with very interesting phenotypes. This tailed one is asymmetrical but the white pattern on hindwings is different with typical f. distantianus. The pattern seems much like the one of female P. agenor mayo ...

The white triangle theoretically evolved to mimic Atrophaneura hageni .


Thanks Adam. However, it seems really different with its model Atrophaneura hageni , so does it use its white triangles to mimic the white head of A.hageni ?
As picture 2 below, my friend has a tailed one also with white ...