Calinaga brahma sudassana Melville, 1893

Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Up. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Un. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♀ Up. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♀ Un.
♂, Lampang, Thailand. ♀, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Up. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Un. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♀ Up. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♀ Un.
♂, Lampang, Thailand. ♀, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Up. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Un. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Up. Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Un.
♂, Nan, Thailand. ♂, Nan, Thailand.
Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ genitalia Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ genitalia Calinaga brahma brahma ♂ genitalia Calinaga brahma brahma ♂ genitalia
♂ genitalia, Lampang, Thailand. Calinaga brahma brahma ♂ genitalia, Kachin, Myanmar.

Calinaga brahma bedoci ♂ Up. Calinaga brahma bedoci ♂ Un. Calinaga brahma bedoci ♀ Up. Calinaga brahma bedoci ♀ Un.
♂, Bolikhamxai, Laos. (photo by H.Onodera) ♀, Bolikhamxai, Laos. (photo by H.Onodera)

ON : Calinaga sudassana Melville, 1893
OD : Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. 41(2):121-122, pl.7, figs.1,2.
TL : Mountainous regions about 100 miles N.W. of "Chieng Mai, Siam" [Chiang Mai, Thailand].

Distribution : Myanmar, N.Thailand, N.Laos.
● ssp.sudassana
ssp.bedoci
transition area of sudassana and bedoci
ssp.distans
Calinaga brahma sudassana map

Records taken from Literature

[ THAILAND ]
Calinaga buddha sudassana ; Godfrey,1916 : 132. (N)
Calinaga sudassana ; Godfrey,1930 : 298. (N: by Bingham & Fruhstorfer)
Calinaga buddha sudassana ; Pinratana,1979 : 92, figs.N159a.♂,♂(Un). (Chiang Mai)
Calinaga buddha sudassana ; Pinratana & Eliot,1996 : 103, pl.82, figs.199,♂,♂(Un). (Chiang Mai)
Calinaga buddha sudassana ; Ek-Amnuay,[2007] : 496, pl.223, figs.N212,♂,♂(Un),♀,♀. (Wiang Pa Pao)
Calinaga buddha sudassana ; Ek-Amnuay,2012 : 374, pl.160, figs.N202,♂,♂(Un),♀,♀. (Wiang Pa Pao)
Calinaga buddha sudassana ; S.Sophonviwatkul, C.Sunthornwiphat & T.Laola,2015- : Butterflies of Thailand, figs. (Chiang Mai; Lampang)
Calinaga buddha sudassana ; Kimura et al.,2016 : 138, figs.♂,♂(Un),♂,♂(Un). (Chiang Dao)
Calinaga sudassana sudassana ; Tshikolovets,2020 : 51-52, pl.IX, figs.7,♂,8,♂(Un); pl.X. figs.1(ST,♂),2(ST,♂Un),3.♂,4♂(Un),5,♂,6,♂(Un),7,♀,8,♀(Un). (Thailand: Lampang; 100miles N.W. of Chiang Mai; Chiang Rai)

[ LAOS ]
Calinaga buddha avalokita ; Motono & Negishi,1989 : 63, pl.79, figs.7,8. (Vang Vieng)
Calinaga sudassana sudassana ; Onodera,2022 : 52, pl.154, figs.♂,♂(Un) [as Calinaga sudassana distans]. (Xiengkhouang: Muang Kham)


Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Chiang Rai : 2♂ 2♀ (incl. photo), (1♂ genitalia dissected).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Chiang Mai : 11♂ 1♀ (incl. photo).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Lampang : 20♂ (incl. photo), (1♂ genitalia dissected).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Nan : 10♂ (incl. photo), (2♂ genitalia dissected).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


[ LAOS ]
Oudomxai : 1♂ (photo by H.Onodera).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

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


Notes

The butterfly is locally common in montane forests at moderate to high elevations (Alt. 550 - 1800m) and is very good mimic to Parantica melaneus and Parantica sita (Danainae) in flight. Males frequently come to the banks of streams and puddles to suck water and are occasionally territorial on trees at hilltops.
The specimens from Bolikhamxai, E.Laos have similar markings to sudassana, however, the markings on the UnH and the shape of the hindwing are different. It seems transition area between sudassana and bedoci.
Tshikolovets (2020: 47) treated the taxa brahma, sudassana, bedoci as "superspecies brahma" and these taxa as separate species. Subsequently, Todisco et al. (2024) treated these taxa as subspecies of brahma based on molecular analysis. Their analysis, including the genital findings of brahma and sudassana, which I have examined, is convincing and I have followed it here. The genus Calinaga is extremely difficult to identify by morphological characteristics and requires a comprehensive verification, including examination of genitalia and further DNA analysis.


Literature

Melville, M.A.,1893 : Description of a new butterfly of the genus Calinaga from Siam.
Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. 41(2):121-122, pl.7.

Tshikolovets, V.,2020 : The Genus Calinaga Moore, [1858] (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Calinaginae).
Tshikolovets Publications. 159 pp, 56 pls.

Todisco, V., Basu, D.N., Prosser, S.W.J., Russell, S., Mutanen, M., Zilli, A., Huertas, B., Kunte, K. & Vane-Wright, R.,2024 :
DNA barcodes from over-a-century-old type specimens shed light on the taxonomy of a group of rare butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Calinaginae).
PLoS ONE 19(7): e0305825. "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305825"


Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂
♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♂, Lampang, Thailand.
Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂
♂+P.agestor, G.xenocles, G.chironides, Lampang, Thailand. ♂, Lampang, Thailand.
Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂
♂, Lampang, Thailand. ♂, Lampang, Thailand.
Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂
♂, Nan, Thailand. ♂ with Graphium xenocles, Nan, Thailand.
Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂
♂ with Papilio agestor, Chiang Mai, Thailand. ♂ with Papilio agestor, Lampang, Thailand.
Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂ Calinaga brahma sudassana ♂
♂ with Parantica melaneus (model), Chiang Mai, Thailand.

2020.01.31 - 2024.10.31.

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