Heliophorus ila urius Eliot, 1963
Heliophorus ila urius ♂ Up. Heliophorus ila urius ♂ Un. Heliophorus ila urius ♂ Up. Heliophorus ila urius ♂ Un.
♂ (ws), Bolikhamxai, Laos. ♂ (ws), Bolikhamxai, Laos.
Heliophorus ila urius ♂ Up. Heliophorus ila urius ♂ Un. Heliophorus ila urius ♂ genitalia Heliophorus ila urius ♂ genitalia
♂ (ws), Xieng Khouang, Laos. (photo by H.Onodera) ♂ genitalia, Lak Sao, Laos.

ON : Heliophorus ila urius Eliot, 1963
OD : Entomologist 96(1203):176, figs.8a-d(♂ genitalia).
TL : Manhao, S.Yunnan. (NHML)
Distribution : C. to E.Laos, N. to C.Vietnam, S.Yunnan.
● ssp.nolus
● ssp.nolus (transition zone to ssp.urius)
● ssp.urius
Heliophorus ila urius map
Type Material Information

Holotype ♂, Manhao, S.Yunnan. (NHML)

Records taken from Literature

[ LAOS ]
Heliophorus ila nolus ; Osada, Uémura & Uehara,1999 : 216. pl.112, figs.♂,♂(Un),♀. (Lak Sao)
Heliophorus ila nolus ; Nakamura & Wakahara,2012 : 52.

[ VIETNAM ]
Heliophorus ila chinensis ; Yago et al.,2005 : 366, 369, figs.5,♂,♂(Un). (Pu Mat)
Heliophorus ila chinensis ; Monastyrskii & Devyatkin,2015 : 55. (C: Nghe An to Lam Dong)

Specimens Examined

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

Bolikhamxai : 6♂ (incl. photo by H.Onodera).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


[ VIETNAM ]
Cao Bang : 1♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Notes

The butterfly is not rare in montane forests at moderate to high elevations.
The genitalia of this taxon is very different from ssp.nolus. As mentioned in the section on ssp.nolus, there is a transition zone from N.Thailand to N.Laos where populations with intermediate characteristics to ssp.nolus and ssp.urius are found. Both ssp.urius and intermediate form which is more closer to urius than nolus occur sympatric in Xieng Khouang, Laos. And in Lak Sao, it is only found ssp.urius. Yago et al. (2005) and Monastyrskii & Deviatkin (2015) recorded nolus in N. Vietnam. I have tentatively mapped them as nolus, however it seems more likely they are a transitional population. Further taxonomic study is needed.

Literature

Eliot, J.N.,1963 : The Heliophorus epicles (Godart, 1823) (Lepidoptera : Lycaenidae) Complex
Entomologist 96(1203):169-180, 14 figs.

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.

2021.09.30.
A Check list of Butterflies in Indo-China, Chiefly from THAILAND, LAOS & VIETNAM. Copyright © 1996- Y.Inayoshi.