Niphanda tessellata tessellata  Moore, [1875]

Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Up. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Un. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♀ Up. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♀ Un.
♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♀, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Up. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Un. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Up. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Un.
♂, Kanchanaburi, Thailand. ♂, Lam Dong, Vietnam. (photo by K.Saito)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Up. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Un. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Up. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Un.
♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♂, Lao Cai, Vietnam. (photo by K.Saito)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Up. Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Un. Niphanda marcia ♂
♂ (ab.), Chiang Mai, Thailand. Niphanda marcia
Original fig. in Fawcett,1904

ON : Niphanda tessellata Moore, [1875]
OD : Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1874(4):572, pl.66, fig.6,♀.
TL : Penang.
Distribution : Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Hainan,
W.Malaysia.
Niphanda tessellata tessellata map

Synonyms

Lycaenesthes aethiops Distant, 1886 : Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5)17:253-254. TL. Penang.
Lycaena marcia Fawcett, 1904 : Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1904 2(1):139, pl.9, fig.7,♂. TL. Tounghoo, Burma. (nom. dub.)


Records taken from Literature

[ THAILAND ]
Niphanda cymbia tessellata ; Davidson & Macbeth,1938 : 79. (Lampang: Me Htam forest)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Pinratana,1981 : 69, pl.35, fig.23♂(Un). (Chiang Mai)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Ek-Amnuay,[2007] : 588, pl.266, fig.L156,♂(Laos),♀,♀(Un). (Doi Pui)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Ek-Amnuay,2012 : 612, pl.277, figs.L179,♂(Un),♀,♀(Un). (Doi Pui)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Kimura et al.,2014 : 154, figs.♂,♂(Un),♀. (Mae Hong Song; Doi Suthep)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; S.Sophonviwatkul, C.Sunthornwiphat & T.Laola,2023- : Butterflies of Thailand, figs. (Yala) (accessed: 2023.05.07)

[ LAOS ]
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Osada, Uémura & Uehara,1999 : 216, pl.112, fig.♂(Un). (Xiang Khouang)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Nakamura & Wakahara,2012 : 52.

[ VIETNAM ]
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Monastyrskii & Devyatkin,2015 : 54. (N: Lao Cai)


Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Mae Hong Son : 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Chiang Mai : 6♂ 3♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Lampang : 1♀ (photo).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Tak : 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Kanchanaburi : 3♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Yala : 1♀ (photo by S.Atdhabhan).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


[ VIETNAM ]
Lao Cai : 1♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Ha Giang : 1♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Lam Dong : 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


Notes

The butterfly is locally not rare in montane forests at moderate elevations (Alt. 700 - 1300m). Both sexes visit flowers. Male makes a territory on the trees at hilltops.
The taxon marcia is a very strange individual according to the figure in the original description. It has a narrow marginal black band on the UpF as tessellata but the shape of both wings are rounded as asialis. As Eliot,1981 mentioned, marcia was first considered a subspecies of asialis and then tessellata. And he thought it should be treated as a nomen dubium. Some specimens in this region seem to be slightly similar to marcia.
The male aberration shown above has a broad marginal black band on the UpF, but is considered to be tessellata by characteristics, such as very large in size, shape of the wings and blue scales completely filled in space 6 on the UpH.
The population from the continental area seems to be slightly different from that of W.Malaysia. I tentatively treat it as the nominotypical subspecies, but further taxonomic study is needed.


Literature

Moore, F.,[1875] : Descriptions of New Asiatic Lepidoptera.
Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1874(4):565-579, pls.66,67.

Distant, W.L.,1886 : Contributions to a Knowledge of Malayan Entomology. Part IV.
Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5)17:251-254.

Eliot, J.N.,1981 : On some butterfies from Malaysia and Peninsular Thailand.
Malay. nat. J. 38(2):99-111.


Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♀
♂ (territorial behavior), Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♀, Lampang, Thailand.
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♂ Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♀
♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♀, Yala, Thailand. (photo by S.Atdhabhan)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♀ Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♀
♀, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♀ Niphanda tessellata tessellata ♀
♀ (laying egg), Mae Hong Son, Thailand. ♂ (territorial behavior), Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

1999.07.11 - 2023.06.30.

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