Arhopala democritus albopunctata

Arhopala democritus albopunctata (Hewitson, 1869)


♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand.		♀, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand.		♀, Bolikhamxai, Laos.

ON : Amblypodia albopunctata Hewitson, 1869
OD : Ill. diurn. Lep. Lycaenidae 1(4):14e, pl.3b, figs.43,♂,44,♂(Un).
TL : Maulmein. (♂, NHML)

Distribution : E.India, Myanmar, N.Thailand, Laos.

	● ssp.democritus
	● uncertain
	● ssp.albopunctata
	● transition zone of democritus and lycaenaria

Records taken from Literature

[ THAILAND ]
Amblypodia albopunctata ; Godfrey,1930 : 331. (Prae: Me Song forest; W: Eka Klo) (in part)
Narathura democritus democritus ; Evans,1957 : 105. (Siam) (in part)
Arhopala democritus democritus ; Pinratana,1981 : 84, pl.14, fig.1,♂(Un). (Chiang Mai; Uthai Thani) (in part)
Arhopala democritus democritus ; S.Sophonviwatkul, C.Sunthornwiphat & T.Laola,2015- : Butterflies of Thailand, fig. (Chiang Mai; 'Chanthaburi') (in part) (accessed: 2023.07.05)

[ LAOS ]
Arhopala democritus democritus ; Motono & Negishi,1989 : 74, pl.105, fig.A3(Un). (Nam Moh)
Arhopala democritus democritus ; Osada, Uémura & Uehara,1999 : 216, pl.115, figs.♂,♀(Un),♀. (Thakhek)
Arhopala democritus democritus ; Nimura & Wakahara,2005 : 47. (Namdhua; Thabeng; Thakhek)
Arhopala democritus democritus ; Nakamura & Wakahara,2012 : 53.
Arhopala democritus democritus ; Onodera,2022 : 85, pl.215, figs.♂,♂(Un),♀,♀(Un). (Bolikhamxai: Thabok)

Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Chiang Mai : 6♂ 4♀ (incl. photo).

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

[ LAOS ]
Bolikhamxai : 4♂ 3♀ (incl. photo by H.Onodera).

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Notes

The butterfly is locally common in montane forests at low to moderate elevations (Alt. 350 - 1100m).
Specimens from Chiang Mai, N.Thailand and Laos have a lighter and bluer ground colour on the upperside. I tentatively treat the continental populations as ssp.albopunctata, although the taxon albopunctata is conventionally treated as a synonym of democritus. Further study, including verification of the type specimen of this taxon, is required for the continental population.
Unfortunately, only the underside photo is known from Chanthaburi in S.E.Thailand. Confirmation by specimen is needed to determine the subspecies.

Literature

Hewitson, W.C.,1863-1878; Illustrations of diurnal Lepidoptera. Part I. Lycaenidae.
London, John Van Voorst.
(1):1-37 [sic], pls.1-16. (6.Jul.1863) ; (2):37-76, pls.17-30. (24.Jun.1865) ; (3):77-114, pls.31-46. (1.Apr.1867) ; (4):115-136, 14a-14h, supplementary pp.1-16, pls.47-54, 3a-3c, supplementary pls.1-5. (30.Apr.1869) ; (5):137-151 [sic], pls.55-59, supplementary pl.6. (10.Feb.1873) ; (6):151-185 [sic], pls.60-73. (1.Dec.1874) ; (7):185-209 [sic], pls.74-83 (Jan.1877) ; (8):209-228, supplementary pp. 17-35 [sic], 35-47, pls.84-85, 88-92, supplementary pls.1a-1b, 3a-3b, 4a, 5a-5b, 7-8. (Nov.1878) [pls. 86-87 were never published]

Corbet, A.S.,1941 : Observations on Certain of the Fabrician Names of Indo-Australian Rhopalocera (Lepid.)
Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (B)10(6):98-106.

Corbet, A.S.,1941 : A key to the Indo-Malayan species of Arhopala Boisduval (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (B)10(9):149-183, figs.1-114.

Evans, W.H.,1957 : A Revision of the Arhopala Group of Oriental Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera).
Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.) 5(3):85-141.

Vane-Wright, R.I. & Gaonkar, H.,2006 : The Arhopala butterflies described by Fabricius: A. centaurus is from Java, A. democritus from Phuket (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
Entomological Science (2006)9:295-311.


♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand.	♀, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

2023.07.31.