♂, Satun (Koh Tarutao), Thailand.		♀, Satun (Koh Tarutao), Thailand.
♂, Satun (Koh Tarutao), Thailand.		♂, Satun (Koh Tarutao), Thailand.

♂, Surat Thani (Koh Samui dist.), Thailand.		♀, Surat Thani (Koh Samui dist.), Thailand.
♂, Surat Thani (Koh Phangan dist.), Thailand.		♀, Surat Thani (Koh Phangan dist.), Thailand.
♂, Surat Thani (Koh Phangan dist.), Thailand.		♀, Surat Thani (Koh Phangan dist.), Thailand.

ON : Lebadea martha rufulus Tsukada, 1991 OD : Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands. 5:290,543, pl.12, figs.9,(HT,♂),10(PT,♂Un),11(PT,♀). TL : Langkawi Is., [W. Malaysia]. (in coll. E. Tsukada) Distribution : P. Thaialnd (Koh Tarutao), W. Malaysia (Langkawi). [ Surat Thani: (Koh Samui ; Koh Phangan) ] ● ssp.martha ● ssp.malayana ● ssp.rufulus

Lebadea martha samuina Tsukada, 1991 : Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands. 5:290,543, pl.12, fig.12,(HT,♀). TL. Samui Is., [Surat Thani, Thailand]. (in coll. E.Tsukada)

rufulus ;
Holotype ♂, 11.Dec.1983. Langkawi Is. (in coll. E.Tsukada)
Paratype 1♂ 1♀, Langkawi Is. (in coll. E.Tsukada)
samuina ; Holotype ♀, 5.Apr.1989. Samui Is. (in coll. E.Tsukada)

[ THAILAND ]
Lebadea martha malayana ; Les Day,2011-2022 : Samui Butterflies, figs.♂[♀],♀. (Koh Samui; Koh Phangan) (accessed: 2020.09.24)
Lebadea martha samuina ; Kimura et al.,2016 : 95. (by literature)

[ THAILAND ]
Satun (Koh Tarutao) : 3♂ 1♀.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

-------------------------------------------------------

Surat Thani (Koh Samui dist ; Koh Phangan dist.) : 4♂ 4♀.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

The butterfly is common in montane and secondary forests at low elevations (Alt. 10 - 200m). Males are territorial on shrubs.
Tsukada (1991) described ssp.rufulus from Langkawi and ssp.samuina from Koh Samui. Ssp.samuina was described based on only one female which seems to be an extreme dry season individual. The populations in Langkawi - Koh Tarutao and Koh Samui - Koh Phangan seem to be identical in their characteristics. These 2 populations are quite similar to the wet season form of the continental population and Eliot & Kirton (2000) treated it as a synonym of the nominotypical subspecies. However, the ground color on the male UpF is darker, the white discal band on the female UpH is narower, post discal black spots on the UnH are larger and more prominent than the nominotypical subspecies. I know this is unnatural in terms of zoogeography, but I consider them to be the same subspecies and provisionally treat it as ssp.rufulus. It could be a similarity due to the oceanic climate, but I rather suspect it could be related to the origin of these islands, as the same tendency is seen in several other species. Further taxonomic study is needed including DNA analysis.

Tsukada, E.,1991 : Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands V, Nymphalidae (II)
Azumino Butterflie's Research Institute. 576pp.(238 col. pls.) (in Japanese)

Eliot, J. N. & Kirton, L. G.,2000 : Revisional notes and nomenclatural changes of some Peninsular Malaysian butterflies
Malay. nat. J. 54(2):131-145.

♂, Surat Thani (Koh Phangan), Thailand.	♀, Surat Thani (Koh Phangan), Thailand. (photo by A.Giudici)
♂, Surat Thani (Koh Phangan), Thailand. (photo by A.Giudici)	♂, Surat Thani (Koh Phangan), Thailand. (photo by A.Giudici)

2020.10.31 - 2024.05.31.