♂ (wsf), Nan, Thailand.		♀, Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
♂ (dsf), Tak, Thailand.		♂, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.

♂, Surat Thani, Thailand.		♀, Ranong, Thailand.
♂, Ranong, Thailand.		♂, Ranong, Thailand.

ON : Jamides lugine purpura Evans, [1925] OD : J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 30(3):615. TL : S.Burma. Distribution : Thailand (Surat Thani and Northward), S.Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam. ● ssp.purpura ● ssp.nisanca

[ THAILAND ]
'Jamides cunilda purpura ; D'Abrera,1986 : 643. (? N.Thailand)'
Jamides cunilda nisanca ; Pinratana,1981 : 59, pl.10, figs.3,♀,4,♀(Un). (Ranong) (in part)
Jamides virgulatus nisanca ; Ek-Amnuay,2012 : 600, pl.272, figs.L150,♂,♀,♀(Un). (Ranong) (in part)
Jamides virgulatus nisanca ; Kimura et al.,2014 : 176. (Kam Puan; Khlong Naka) (in part)
Jamides virgulatus purpura ; Kimura et al.,2014 : 176. (by literature)

[ LAOS ]
Jamides cunilda nisanca ; Onodera,2015 : 39, figs.4,♂.4v,♂(Un). (Nahin)
Jamides cunilda nisanca ; Onodera,2022 : 79, pl.210, figs.♂,♂(Un),♀,♀(Un). (Khammouan: Nahin; Bolikhamxai: Lak Sao)

[ VIETNAM ]
Jamides virgulatus ; Monastyrskii et al.,2006 : 43. (Thua Thien Hue: A Luoi)
Jamides cunilda nisanca ; Monastyrskii & Devyatkin,2015 : 53. (C / S)

[ THAILAND ]
Mae Hong Son : 2♂.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Chiang Mai : 4♂.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Nan : 4♂ (incl. photo).

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Tak : 1♀.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Kanchanaburi: 1♀.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Ranong : 3♂ 1♀.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Surat Thani : 1♂.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

The butterfly is not rare locally in montane forests at low to moderate elevations (Alt. 30 - 700m).
The characteristics of the subspecies are as follows: Coloration of male upper side is paler with a less purplish tinge; UnH orange area is smaller and not overlapping the striae in space 2.
Hitherto, the populations from Ranong and Surat Thani were included to ssp.nisanca, however the coloration of the male upper side is the same as ssp.purpura. Therefore, I consider it to be this taxon. The orange area on the UnH is slightly larger than the continental populations and seems somewhat transitional to ssp.nisanca.

This species was known as cunilda, but the specific name was changed to virgulatus by Takanami in Seki et al.,1991. Subsequently, Hirowatari,1992 divided virgulatus into two species, virgulatus (Borneo, Palawan) and cunilda (Myanmar, Thailand, West Malaysia, Sumatra, Java), without providing any evidence. The fact is that cunilda (Java and W.Malaysia) and virgulatus (Borneo) have rather different male genitalia. Therefore, following Hirotari, we have decided to treat them as separate species. Further taxonomic study is needed.

Evans, W.H.,[1925] : The identification of Indian Butterflies (7)
J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 30(3):610-639, pl.28.

D'Abrera B.,1986 : Butterflies of the Oriental Region. Part III
Hill House, Australia.

Seki, Y., Takanami, Y. & Otsuka, K.,1991 : Butterflies of Borneo. Vol.2, No.1. Lycaenidae.
Tobishima Corporation.

Hirowatari, T.,1992 : A Generic Classification of the Tribe Polyommatini of the Oriental and Australian Regions (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae,Polyommatinae)
Bull. Univ. Osaka Pref., Ser. B, 44,Suppl.1-102.

♂ (wsf) , Nan, Thailand.	♂, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.

Y.Inayoshi & K.Saito, 2021.04.30 - 2023.05.31.