Euthalia merta merta

Euthalia merta merta (Moore, 1859)


♂, Yala, Thailand.

ON : Adolias merta Moore, 1859
OD : Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. (2)5(2/3):72, pl.6, fig.4,♀.
TL : 'China' [Perak, W.Malaysia]

Distribution : P. Thailand, W. Malaysia, Singapore.

	● ssp.
	● ssp.alboapicala
	● ssp.[alboapicala ?]
	● ssp.merta
	● ssp.milleri

Synonym

Euthalia merta simplex Tsukada, 1991 ; Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands. 5:412, 549-550, pl.105, figs.11(HT,♂),12(PT,♂Un),13(PT,♀(Un),14(PT,♀). TL. Cameron Highland, W.Malaysia.

Type Materials Information

merta : Holotype, ♀, (NHML, photo examined.)
simplex : Holotype, ♂, 1987.Dec.25, Cameron Highland, W.Malaysia. (in coll. E. Tsukada)
Paratypes : 2♂ 2♀, Same locality as holotype.

Records taken from Literature

[ THAILAND ]
Euthalia merta milleri ; Pinratana,1979 : 74, 75, fig.N127,♂. (Trang)
Euthalia merta merta ; Pinratana & Eliot,1996 : 76, pl.51, figs.139a♂,♀. (Trang; Satun; Yala)
Euthalia eriphylae chula ; RDPB & DNP,2006-2008 : Butterflies in Hala-Bala Forest, fig.♀. (Narathiwat: Hala Bala) (last update: 2006.12.27 ; accessed: 2024.05.11)
Euthalia merta merta ; Ek-Amnuay,[2007] : 438, pl.192, figs.N144a♀,♀(Un) ; pl.193, fig.N144a♂(Malaysia),♂(Un, Malaysia). (Yala)
Euthalia merta milleri ; Ek-Amnuay,[2007] : 438, pl.193, fig.N144b,♀,♀(Un). (no loc.)
Euthalia merta merta ; Ek-Amnuay,2012 : 446, pl.196, figs.N310a♀,♀(Un). ('Chiang Mai' [recte Peninsular Thailand])
'Euthalia merta milleri ; Ek-Amnuay,2012 : pl.197, figs.N310b♂(Malaysia),♂(Un,Malaysia),♀(Malaysia),♀(Un,Malaysia). (in part)'
Euthalia merta merta ; Kimura et al.,2016 : 105, figs.♂,♂(Un),♀,♀(Un),♀,♀(Un),♀,♀(Un). (Khlong Naka; Thaleban; Than To WF.)
Euthalia merta milleri ; Küppers & Janikorn,2020 : 66-67, fig.Abb.N-419. (Phang Nga)
Euthalia agnis hiyamai ; Küppers & Janikorn,2020 : 67, figs.Abb.N-420-421. (Phang Nga)

Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Nakhon Si Thammarat : 1♂ 1♀ (photo by A.Giudici).

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Satun : 1♀.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Yala : 1♂.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Notes

The butterfly is locally not rare in montane forest at low elevations (Alt. 150 - 450m).
Moore (1859), in describing this taxon, gave the type locality as 'China', but Distant (1886), illustrated a female specimen and expressed doubts about the type locality. Subsequently, Fruhstorfer (1906,1913) assumed it to be Malaysia, and Corbet (1945) considered it as Perak, Malaysia which I have followed. I tentatively treat all populations from P. Thailand to Singapore as the same taxon, however, further taxonomic study is needed.

Literature

Moore, F.,1859 : A Monograph of the Genus Adolias, a Genus of Diurnal Lepidopotera belonging to the Family Nymphalida.
Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. (2)5(2/3):62-87, pls.3-9.

Distant, W. L.,1886 : Rhopalocera Malayana : a Description of the Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula.
1-481, pl.1-27,27A,27B,28-44.

Fruhstorfer, H.,1906 : Neue Euthaliiden.
Soc. ent. 20(19):148-149. (1.Jan.1906)

Fruhstorfer, H.,1913 : Familie: Nymphalidae in Seitz, Grossschmett Erde.
9:665-680. (13.Jan.1913)

Corbet, A. S.,1945 : The Species of the Aconthea Group of the Genus Euthalia HBN. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).
Entomologist 78:177-183, 9 figs.

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.


♂, Yala, Thailand. (photo by S.Atdhabhan)	♀, Yala, Thailand. (photo by S.Atdhabhan)

♂, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. (photo by A.Giudici)	♀, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. (photo by A.Giudici)

♂, Yala, Thailand. (photo by S.Atdhabhan)	♀, Yala, Thailand. (photo by S.Atdhabhan)

♂, Yala, Thailand.	♀, Satun, Thailand. (photo by A.Giudici)

2007.02.10 - 2024.05.31.