It comes from Chiang Mai Thailand !

[Trehopr1]

Here is a surprise for Adam. A little something I've had which
is (unique) to me for its coloration. The data is there and so
are all the legs !

Only, slightly "bumped" otherwise....



Do you see many of these Adam ? Is it common fodder ?

[adamcotton]

The name is wrong, both species and subspecies. Meandrusa sciron is a separate species to M. lachinus. The former comes from China, whereas the latter is found south of the Himalayas from India to SE Asia. Both species occur together in only one place - Hagiang, northernmost Vietnam. M. sciron has an orange discal band in the male and thinner tails.

M. lachinus nagamasai comes from the mountains in Ranong, south Thailand, not Chiang Mai in the north where ssp. aribbas is found on the high mountains. The males of these two subspecies are almost identical so I cannot be certain from this photo whether it is a mislabelled nagamasai or really does come from Chiang Mai. I suspect it does come from Chiang Mai because of the tail shape. Tails of nagamasai are usually slightly more straight. See these links for some information about the 2 ssp. and photos of females too:
http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pap/10920020.html
http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pap/10920030.html

If this does come from Chiang Mai it probably came from Fang District (technically the place is in Mae Ai), where there used to be collectors catching these on the mountain top at Doi Pu Meun in the 1990s. They do not occur anywhere near my home, so I have never seen one here, although I have seen it in eastern Laos. All Meandrusa are now protected under Thai law, by the way.

Adam.

[adamcotton]

I should add that back in the 1990s M. sciron and lachinus were regarded as conspecific, so at least the species name was not inaccurate at that time.

Adam.

[Trehopr1]

Thank you Adam very much !

So, to be clear this name should then be Meandrusa lachinus aribbas
(based on the locality data) ?

I've had this quite a few years. The label you see is what I received it with.
I took its I.D. for what it was.... Found it in a collection being parted-out
for sale and was intrigued for its dark brown coloration (overall) and that
it was from Thailand (which I have few leps from).

Only many, many moons later did I join the forum and then realise that
someone here ACTUALLY lives there (near/at) the locality.

Hopefully, I have the name clearly understood and thank you for the links.

[adamcotton]

Yes, this is probably Meandrusa lachinus aribbas based on the data and shape of the tails.

By the way, unusually for Papilionidae, Meandrusa do not come to urine bait along streams. Males do drink water at puddles, but they seem to prefer places with decomposing leaves along the edges of streams. I remember a male of M. payeni ignoring a urine bait puddle full of other Papilios and diving into a rock hole nearby with rotting leaves inside. On other occasions I have also seen them where there is leaf litter in the edges of streams, and the one time I saw M. lachinus in east Laos was at a point where water was seeping out of a rock face. I was surprised to see it because the altitude was only 700 metres, and lachinus normally occurs at over 1000 metres.

Adam.

[Trehopr1]

Some fascinating and uniquely specific behavior related
to this genus Adam. I very much welcome your insights
and observations related to these !

[daveuk]

I believe this is my only specimen with Chiang Mai as the data. A male Bhutantis lidderdalii ocellatomaculata. Have read several accounts of why this subspecies is now considered to be or actually extinct. Over collecting & loss of habitat seem to be the main contenders. Sad either way. I got this specimen in the mid 1980s from a British dealer.

[adamcotton]

Have read several accounts of why this subspecies is now considered to be or actually extinct. Over collecting & loss of habitat seem to be the main contenders. Sad either way.

Sad indeed, but its extinction had nothing to do with over collecting whatsoever. Your superb specimen was one from the last year that these were found.

What happened was that there was an extreme drought in March to May 1983 due to a really severe El Nino which caused the whole of the area where the population lived (a valley on Doi Chiang Dao at about 1500m) to be consumed by fire, and B. lidderdalii has never been seen there since then. I was actually in Chiang Dao in May 1983, although only at the base of the mountain and visibility was very low due to smoke from the fires. This 2000m high limestone mountain 90km north of Chiang Mai was the only place where subspecies ocellatomaculata was known from, and it has not been seen since. At the time of the fire they would have been late instar larvae or pupae, so could not escape. Doubtless the drought was exacerbated by localised degradation of the land surrounding the wildlife sanctuary, which may have contributed to the severity of the fire.

Adam.

[Trehopr1]

Wow, how lucky you are Dave to have this subspecies of lidderdalii ! !

That one now has "mythical" status amongst those who know anything of its former existence.

Incredible timing on your part....

Impeccable specimen !