♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand.		♀, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
♂, Kanchanaburi, Thailand.		♂, Lam Dong, Vietnam. (photo by K.Saito)
♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand.		♂, Lao Cai, Vietnam. (photo by K.Saito)
♂ (ab.), Chiang Mai, Thailand.		Niphanda marcia ♂ Original fig. in Fawcett,1904

ON : Niphanda tessellata Moore,[1875] OD : Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1874(4):572, pl.66, fig.6,♀. TL : Penang. Distribution : Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Hainan, W.Malaysia.

Lycaenesthes aethiops Distant,1886 : Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5)17:253-254. TL. Penang.
Lycaena marcia Fawcett,1904 : Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1904 2(1):139, pl.9, fig.7,♂. TL. Tounghoo, Burma. (nom. dub.)

[ THAILAND ]
Niphanda cymbia tessellata ; Davidson & Macbeth,1938 : 79. (Lampang: Me Htam forest)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Pinratana,1981 : 69, pl.35, fig.23♂(Un). (Chiang Mai)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Ek-Amnuay,[2007] : 588, pl.266, fig.L156,♂(Laos),♀,♀(Un). (Doi Pui)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Ek-Amnuay,2012 : 612, pl.277, figs.L179,♂(Un),♀,♀(Un). (Doi Pui)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Kimura et al.,2014 : 154, figs.♂,♂(Un),♀. (Mae Hong Song; Doi Suthep)

[ LAOS ]
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Osada, Uémura & Uehara,1999 : 216, pl.112, fig.♂(Un). (Xiang Khouang)
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Nakamura & Wakahara,2012 : 52.

[ VIETNAM ]
Niphanda tessellata tessellata ; Monastyrskii & Devyatkin,2015 : 54. (N: Lao Cai)

[ THAILAND ]
Mae Hong Son : 1♀.

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Chiang Mai : 6♂ 3♀.

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Lampang : 1♀ (photo).

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Tak : 1♀.

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Kanchanaburi : 3♂.

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Yala : 1♀ (photo by S.Atdhabhan).

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[ VIETNAM ]
Lao Cai : 1♂.

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Ha Giang : 1♂.

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Lam Dong : 1♀.

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The butterfly is locally not rare in montane forests at moderate elevations (Alt.700m - 1300m) and is found frequently on the hilltops. Male makes a territory on the trees.
The taxon marcia is very strange individuals according to the figure in original description. It has narrow marginal black band on the UpF as tessellata however the shape of both wings are rounded as asialis. As Eliot,1981 mentioned, marcia was first considered a subspecies of asialis and then tessellata. And he thought it should be treated as a nomen dubium. Some examples in this region seem to be slightly similar to marcia. Male aberration shown above has a broad marginal black band on the UpF, however is considered to be tessellata by characteristics, such as very large in size, shape of the wings and blue scales completely filled in space 6 on the UpH.
Population in continental area seems slightly different from that of W.Malaysia. I treat it as nominotypical subspecies provisionally, however further taxonomic study is needed.

Moore, F.,[1875] : Descriptions of New Asiatic Lepidoptera.
Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1874(4):565-579, pls.66,67.

Distant, W.L.,1886 : Contributions to a Knowledge of Malayan Entomology. Part IV.
Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5)17:251-254.

Eliot, J.N.,1981 : On some butterfies from Malaysia and Peninsular Thailand.
Malay. nat. J. 38(2):99-111.

♂ (territorial behavior), Chiang Mai, Thailand.	♀, Lampang, Thailand.
♂, Chiang Mai, Thailand.	♀, Yala, Thailand. (photo by S.Atdhabhan)
♀, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
♀ (laying egg), Mae Hong Son, Thailand.	♂ (territorial behavior), Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

1999.07.11 - 2022.02.28.