Jamides cunilda purpura Evans, 1925

Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Up. Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Un. Jamides cunilda purpura ♀ Up. Jamides cunilda purpura ♀ Un.
♂ (wsf), Nan, Thailand. ♀, Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Up. Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Un. Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Up. Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Un.
♂ (dsf), Tak, Thailand. ♂, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.

Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Up. Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Un. Jamides cunilda purpura ♀ Up. Jamides cunilda purpura ♀ Un.
♂, Surat Thani, Thailand. ♀, Ranong, Thailand.
Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Up. Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Un. Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Up. Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Un.
♂, Ranong, Thailand. ♂, Ranong, Thailand.

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

Records taken from Literature

[ 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)


Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Mae Hong Son : 2♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Chiang Mai : 4♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Nan : 5♂ (incl. photo).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Tak : 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Kanchanaburi: 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Ranong : 3♂ 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Surat Thani : 1♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


Notes

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.


Literature

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.


Jamides cunilda purpura ♂ Jamides cunilda purpura ♂
♂ (wsf) , Nan, Thailand. ♂, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.

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

A Check list of Butterflies in Indo-China, Chiefly from THAILAND, LAOS & VIETNAM. Copyright © 1996- Y.Inayoshi.