Lexias dirtea merguia  (Tytler, 1926)

Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Up. Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Un. Lexias dirtea merguia ♀ Up. Lexias dirtea merguia ♀ Un.
♂, Ranong, Thailand. ♀, Ranong, Thailand.
Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Up. Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Un. Lexias dirtea merguia ♀ Up. Lexias dirtea merguia ♀ Un.
♂, Ranong, Thailand. ♀, Ranong, Thailand.
Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Up. Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Un. Lexias dirtea merguia ♀ Up. Lexias dirtea merguia ♀ Un.
♂, Trang, Thailand. ♀, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.
Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Up. Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Un. Lexias dirtea merguia ♀ Up. Lexias dirtea merguia ♀ Un.
♂, Satun, Thailand. ♀, Trang, Thailand.

ON : Adolias intermedia merguia Tytler, 1926
OD : J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 31:580.
TL : Mergui. (♂, NHML)
Distribution : S.Myanmar, P.Thailand (Phetchaburi and Southward),
Langkawi, W.Malaysia, Singapore.
● ssp.agosthena
ssp.agosthena (f.toonchaii)
ssp.[agosthena ?] (not confirmed)
ssp.
ssp.
ssp.merguia
Lexias dirtea merguia map

Synonyms

Lexias dirtea pluvius Tsukada, 1991 : Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands 5:385, 547, pl.81, figs.6(PT,♀),8(PT,♂Un), 9(HT,♂). TL. Ranong, P.Thailand.
Lexias dirtea maga Tsukada, 1991 : Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands 5:385, 547-548, pl.84, figs.7(PT,♀),8(PT,♀Un),9(PT,♂Un),10(HT,♂). TL. Singapore.


Type Materials Information

pluvius :
Holotype ♂, Mar.1990. Ranong, P.Thailand. (in coll. E.Tsukada)
Paratypes : 2♂, Mar.1990. Ranong, P.Thailand. ; 1♀, Apr.1990. Muang Chone, P.Thailand.
maga :
Holotype ♂, 3.Apr.1988. Singapore. (in coll. E.Tsukada)
Paratypes : 8♂ 1♀, same locality as holotype.


Records taken from Literature

[ THAILAND ]
Adolias dirtea dirtea ; Pendlebury,1923 : 41. (Nakhon Sri Thammarat: Khao Ram; Khao Luang)
Adolias dirtea dirtea ; Godfrey,1930 : 296. (Nakhon Sri Thammarat: Khao Ram; Khao Luang; Wat Kiriwong)
Adolias dirtea dirtea ; Godfrey,1932a : 270. (P)
Euthalia dirtea merguia ; Pinratana,1979 : 84, figs.N147,♂,♀. (Ranong; Trang; Yala)
Lexias dirtea merguia ; Pinratana & Eliot,1996 : 83, pl.58, figs.158a♂,♀. (Ranong; Nakhon Sri Thammarat; Trang) (in part)
Lexias dirtea merguia ; Ek-Amnuay,[2007] : 458, pl.203, figs.N167b♂,♂(Un),♀. (Ranong: Kampuan) (in part)
Lexias dirtea merguia ; Les Day,2011-2022 : Samui Butterflies, figs.♂,♀. (Koh Samui) (accessed: 2022.03.24)
Lexias dirtea merguia ; Ek-Amnuay,2012 : 468, pl.208, figs.N333b♂,♂(Un),♀,♀(Un). (Ranong) (in part)
Lexias dirtea merguia ; Kimura et al.,2016 : 114, figs.♂,♂(Un),♂,♂(Un),♀,♀(Un),♀,♀(Un). (Muang Shone; Kam Puan; Khlong Naka; Kao Luang; Ka Chong; Than To WF.) (in part)
Lexias dirtea merguia ; Küppers & Janikorn,2020 : 71, figs.Abb.N-443-447. (Phang Nga)
Lexias dirtea merguia ; S.Sophonviwatkul, C.Sunthornwiphat & T.Laola,2023- : Butterflies of Thailand, fig. (Yala) (accessed: 2023.09.22)


Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Phetchaburi : 1♀ (photo by M.Hayashi).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Ranong : 7♂ 4♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Nakhon Sri Thammarat : 1♂ 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Trang : 3♂ 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Satun : 2♂ 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Yala : 1♂.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


Notes

The butterfly is common in montane forests at low to moderate elevations (Alt. 10 - 900m) and frequently comes to rotten fruits that have fallen to the ground.
Males in Ranong to Nakhon Si Thammarat populations tend to be larger in size than the other populations as Tsukada,1991 pointed out, however they are rather variable and unstable.


Literature

Tytler, H.,1926 : Notes on some new and interesting Butterflies from India and Burma
J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 31:248-260, pl.1,4 ; (3):579-590, pl.2,3-5.

Tsukada, E.,1991 : Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands V, Nymphalidae (II)
Azumino Butterflie's Research Institute. 576pp.(238 col. pls.) (in Japanese)

Eliot, J.N. & Kirton, L.G.,2000 : Revisional notes and nomenclatural changes of some Peninsular Malaysian butterflies
Malay. nat. J. 54(2):131-145.

Abe, A. and Kumagai, Y.,2010 : A study of chromosomes in four species of Lexias (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae)
Trans. lepid. Soc. Japan 61(!):79-86. (in Japanese)


Lexias dirtea merguia ♂ Lexias dirtea merguia ♀
♂, Yala, Thailand. ♀, Phetchaburi, Thailand. (photo by M.Hayashi)

2007.03.03 - 2022.09.30.

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