InsectNet forum

Recently, I had an opportunity to pick up a selection
of "papered" Stichopthalma. This is a genus which I
have always had a poor representation of. Some species
and subspecies are very tough (these days) to find.

In the last 8 yrs. (or so) specimens have come available
largely from Vietnam and one runs across a plethora of
striking species and variations which may be seasonal
or even un-described things.

This genus still remains a "work in progress" so it could
still be years before these marvelous butterflies are
reasonably sorted-out --- especially all this new material
out of Vietnam.

So, below I present all of my recently prepared-up and
finished Jungle Queens for your viewing pleasure.

Most will not have I.D's but, if anyone cares to forward
their thoughts or determinations I will be very appreciative.

I will add additional pictures as things come off the boards !

Stichopthalma uemurai (male)

These Stichophthalma are very fascinating, I have some from Vietnam but I am still waiting for these to be reviewed. You are right, the species seem to be ambiguous and I also suspect that there are variants, either seasonal or überhautp.
This specimen is from the south,BAC BINH, VIETNAM, and is very iridescent.
Greetings Joachim

P.S. I have seen reports of the war, and it is amazing that there are still so many great butterflies.

Hello Joachim,
Indeed, these are marvelous large butterflies with intricate patterns that make them quite fascinating.
The species you have there is S. uemurai (pronounced ee-moor-ai) just like the example in my first photograph on this thread. It is a quite variable species (which DaveUK) has previously mentioned. Some have a little more bluish coloration others more white and others have deeper or lighter (tones) of either color.

So far, it remains my favorite species of the ones that I am now preparing. I will be showing others that I have prepared up recently as soon as I can remove them from the boards.

Trehopr1 wrote: ↑Fri May 12, 2023 12:54 am The species you have there is S. uemurai (pronounced ee-moor-ai)

Actually in Japanese each vowel is pronounced separately, not combined to make a different sound. The correct pronunciation is "oo-eh-mur-ah-i".

Adam.

joachim wrote: ↑Fri May 12, 2023 12:19 am

P.S. I have seen reports of the war, and it is amazing that there are still so many great butterflies.

Most all wars are against human population centers, which are ecologically damaged anyway. In Vietnam, those attacks you see with napalm and Agent Orange defoliant were typically against logistics bottlenecks. The point is, most conflicts have little to no impact on the insect populations.

Here are a few more freshly removed Stichopthalma
from the boards. Likely, repeat species here but, still
always nice to see....

Stichopthalma uemurai (male)



Stichopthalma uemurai (female) *Much bolder "bluish-purple" hindwings !



A much darker chocolate-brown version of others shown previous.



Stichopthalma have quite long/well developed labial palpi. I have seen
examples in others collections sometimes missing one but, when BOTH
palpi are missing the specimen just doesn't look right !

I've been fortunate in getting carefully "papered" stock free of breakage -- so far !

Here is another of my recent acquisitions. I purchased this
specimen recently along with my "papered" Stichopthalma.
This is Stichopthalma cambodia. A species whose distribution
borders (both) Cambodia and southeast Thailand.



It came from a collection being parted-out and was a VERY
desireable stand-out for being a fresh looking (female) of
a seldom seen or offered species (these days).

I show it here (along with) my papered Vietnamese stock as I
ended up having to re-spread-it properly to suit my taste.
The wings were originally set too low and it looked more
at rest than in flight. Re-spreading is something I find myself
doing at least 60% of the time when I get things from older
collections.

Stichopthalma cambodia (female)



This species is really a unique one for its color. Nearest the
body there is a strangely (greenish) zone whilst the outer
margins sport a bluish/white tone. Very stark contrast....
The species is protected in the Thailand portion of its haunts.

My specimen is from Cambodia and was collected Dec. 2009.
If jungle queens are a genus of interest to you I recommend
keeping an eye open for this one !

Some lovely Stichophthalma there Trehopr. Particularly fine female specimen of S cambodia you have. Congrats on picking up that one.

Thank you kindly Dave !

I've had a blast lately working up these marvels from Southeast Asia. They are very easy to work with (generally speaking) and they relax out VERY easily within a day (1/2) in the relaxer.

Have had only 2 badly wing-marred ones out of 18 specimens so I'm really looking forward to seeing the remainder come off the boards soon !

Will show most of the remaining others as they come off the boards.

Wow, these are amazing. I'd never really appreciated this genus. Thanks for all the photos. Keep them coming.

Thankyou chuck, and I appreciate your comments !

I have here a few others that I removed from the boards
last night. I'm very pleased at how attractive these large
butterflies really are (as I had virtually none prior to these).
I could only appreciate them as others specimens. They are
VERY easy to work with if relaxed for about a day (1/2).

I look forward to getting others whenever possible as there
is much variability amongst them and even having a small
series of ANY species is a wonderful thing to behold. I'll
never catch anything like these myself so, why not....

Most of these are probably repeats of species which I've
already shown on this thread however, variation still exists
in EACH with markings, color tones, size, and color sheen
(boldness) or lack of it.

I can see this genus as being very addictive to collect
and appreciate. Eye candy throughout.



Another Stichopthalma uemurai (male)
*This locality is where all of my specimens of this species
hail from so, its certainly the "hot-spot" in Vietnam for it.



My largest (female) Stichopthalma species of the lot.
She out-sizes everything else acquired and probably (borders)
the size of Stichopthalma godfreyi's (female) which, I believe
is the LARGEST of the jungle queen (females).



Here is a comparative photo of my largest (female) and a
more typical-sized (female) example which ALSO happens
to be much more chocolate-brown than all my others.

no images visible

As far as I can tell Joachim my text and photographs show on my computer as well as on my Android phone so I believe they are there for all to see.

Perhaps there is a problem of some sort at your end....

I can see them on iPhone and laptop. I've gained a real appreciation for the genus, morphologically speaking.

joachim wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 7:20 pm no images visible

I can see all the photos here, however I cannot open them in a separate window. I get an imgur error message if I try.

Adam.

Hi, it is my vpn tunnel, when I deactivate it, everything is fine.Sorry for that.

Back to the topic. The butterflies are impressive.

Here is one of my favourite boxes, Al are from the north Vietnam except the two on the bottom which seems to be uemurai.
For the others, I wait for new examination.

O'h my Joachim,
You have done very well (yourself) in acquiring these marvelous large butterflies. A wonderful full drawer of these butterflies to see.

Yet more really beautiful specimens Trehopr. So glad that you have managed to procure a good series of these incredible butterflies now. As you say the variation from specimen to specimen is really astonishing. This seems to be particularly the case with specimens from Viet-Nam.
That is also a really lovely drawer of specimens you have too Joachim

A very pleasent surprise amongst my recent cache of
papered Stichopthalma is this (male) of S. godfreyi.
It comes from Thailand and was collected in May 2009.

It was somehow mixed-in with all the other material
from Vietnam. This species is probably the "grandest"
of the genus with its variably blue/white (males) and
absolutely enormous and magnificent (females). It is
a "first" and only for me and I'll probably never afford
a female but, you never know....