Heliophorus kohimensis elioti  Yago, Saigusa & Nakanishi, 2002

Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Un. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♀ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♀ Un.
♂ (ws), Lao Cai, Vietnam. (photo by K.Saito) ♀ (ds), Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Un. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♀ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♀ Un.
♂ (ds), 2015.02.14. Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♀ (ds), Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Un. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Un.
♂ (ds), Oudomxai, Laos. (photo by H.Onodera) ♂ (ws), Oudomxai, Laos. (photo by H.Onodera)
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Un. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Un.
♂ (ds), Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♂ (ws), Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Up. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Un. Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ genitalia Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ genitalia
♂ (ds), Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♂ genitalia, Chiang Mai Thailand.

ON : Heliophorus kohimensis elioti Yago, Saigusa & Nakanishi, 2002
OD : Entomological Science 2002(3):380-383, figs.1C(HT,♂), D(HT,♂Un),
3(♂genitalia), 4(♀genitalia). [partim]
TL : Pingbian, Yunnan, China. (KIZC)
Distribution : Myanmar, N.Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China.
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti map

Type Materials Information

Holotype ♂, 23.May.1996. Pingbian (about 1500m alt.), Yunnan, China. T.Saigusa leg. (KIZC)
Paratypes ; 5♂ 1♀, Phong Saly, Laos. (BLKU ; in coll. Osada) ;
1♂, Lop-pi (1840m alt.), Kachin, Myanmar. Y.Watanabe leg. (BLKU) ; 1♂, 03.Aug.2000. Sa Pa, Lao Cai, Vietnam. K.Shibahara leg. (BLKU) ;
'1♀, Hoang Lien (1500m alt.), Lao Cai, Vietnam. Al.L.Monastyrskii leg. (in coll. Monastyrskii)'


Records taken from Literature

[ THAILAND ]
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ; Saito & Inayoshi,2022b : 28, figs.27,♂,27v♂(Un),28♀,28v♀(Un). (Chiang Mai: Mae Chaem Dist.)
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ; S.Sophonviwatkul, C.Sunthornwiphat & T.Laola,2023- : Butterflies of Thailand, figs. (Chiang Mai) (accessed: 2023.05.20)

[ LAOS ]
Heliophorus kohimensis delacouri ; Osada, Uémura & Uehara,1999 : 216. pl.112, figs.♂,♂,♀. (Phong Saly) (These are designated to paratypes of elioti.)
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ; Nakamura & Wakahara,2012 : 52.
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ; Onodera,2022 : 84, pl.214, figs.♂,♂(Un). (Oudomxai)

[ VIETNAM ]
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ; Yago et al.,2005 : 366, 369, fig.3,♂,♀,♂(Un). (near Sapa)
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ; Monastyrskii & Devyatkin,2015 : 55. (N: Lao Cai)


Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Chiang Mai : 15♂ 3♀ (incl. photo).
Mae Chaem dist., 2015.02.14. 1♂ Y.Inayoshi & T.Aoyama (YI).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


[ LAOS ]
Oudomxai : 2♂ (photo by H.Onodera).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


[ VIETNAM ]
Lao Cai : 1♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


Notes

New to Thailand. The species was confirmed by Toshiyuki Aoyama and Y.Inayoshi on 14.Feb.2015 in Chiang Mai province. The butterfly is common along the streams in montane forests at moderate elevations, but is quite localized. Males are territorial on shrubs and occurs sympatrically with Heliophorus ila. The females shown above were obtained while mating with a male of kohimensis and are confirmed to be a female of this species.
I consider that the figured paratype female specimen, G♀,H♀(Un), in the original description seems to be a different species and is likely to be a female of Heliophorus ila. Female of kohimensis have post-discal black spots from space 6 to space 1b on the UnF. Some individuals show only vestiges of this markings in the dry season form. When these black spots disappear, they fade out from space 6 to downward, not upward from the bottom. And the spots in spaces 1b disappear, but the spots in spaces 6 through 2 remain faintly visible. On the other hand, in the illustrated paratype specimen, the black spots are seen to fade out from the bottom to the top. This characteristic does not seem to be consistent with females of kohimensis.
The population in N.Thailand, the genitalia is almost identical to those of ssp.elioti.


Literature

Yago, M., Saigusa, T. & Nakanishi, A.,2002 : A revision of the Heliophorus kohimensis group (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
Entomological Science, 5(3):375-388.

Yago, M., Wakabayashi, M., Tanaka, B. & Monastyrskii, A.L.,2005 : Species biodiversity and life histories of the genus Heliophorus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Vietnam.
Report on Insect Inventory Project in Tropic Asia (TAIIV)(2005):365-370.


Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♀
♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♀, Chiagn Mai, Thailand.
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♀+♂ Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂+♀
♀+♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♂+♀, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂
♂ (ws), Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♂, 2015.02.14. Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂ Heliophorus kohimensis elioti ♂
♂ (territorial behavior), Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♂ (territorial behavior), Chiang Mai, Thailand.

2006.02.06 - 2023.05.31.

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