Rapala persephone  Saito, 2011

Rapala persephone ♂ Up. Rapala persephone ♂ Un. Rapala persephone ♀ Up. Rapala persephone ♀ Un.
♂, 2010.05.04. Ba Ho WF., Khanh Hoa, Vietnam.
Holotype (photo by K.Saito)
♀, 2010.05.04-06. Ba Ho WF., Khanh Hoa, Vietnam.
Paratype (photo by K.Saito)

Rapala persephone ♀ Up. Rapala persephone ♀ Un. Rapala persephone ♀ Up. Rapala persephone ♀ Un.
♀, 2017.10.01. Nakhon Nayok, Thailand. ♀, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand.

ON : Rapala persephone Saito, 2011
OD : Butterflies (Teinopalpus) 58:14-15,
fig.1A-B(HT,♂), 2A-B(PT,♀), 4A-C(♂genitalia).
TL : Khanh Hoa, C.Vietnam.
Distribution : Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam,
Yunnan.
Rapala persephone map

Type Materials Information

Holotype ♂, 4.May.2010. Ba Ho waterfalls, Ninh Ich, Ninh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, C.Vietnam. K.Saito leg. (in coll. K.Saito; The holotype will be preserved in RIEB)
Paratypes ; 44♂ 23♀, 4-6,May.2010. same locality as holotype. K.Saito leg.


Records taken from Literature

[ LAOS ]
Rapala hades ; Osada, Uémura & Uehara,1999 : 219. pl.128, figs.♀(Un). (Lak Sao)
Rapala persephone ; Nakamura & Wakahara,2012 : 56.

[ CAMBODIA ]
Rapala hades ; Onodera,2009 : 40, figs.♀,♀(Un). (Siem Reap: Phnum Kulen)
Rapala persephone ; Onodera,2022 : 129, pl.267, figs.♀,♀(Un). (Siem Reap: Phnum Kulen)
Rapala persephone ; Chartier & Kosterin,2022 : 124. (Siem Reap)

[ VIETNAM ]
Rapala persephone ; Monastyrskii & Devyatkin,2015 : 69, pl.16. fig.63a(HT,♂),63b(HT,♂Un),63c(PT,♀). (C: Thua Thien Hue; Khanh Hoa)


Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Nakhon Nayok : Nakhon Nayok dist., 5♀ (incl.photo by M.Hayashi and S.Sophonviwatkul).
2017.10.01. 1♀, M.Hayashi (YI).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


[ VIETNAM ]
Khan Hoa : 1♂ 2♀ (Holotype & Paratype and incl. photo by K.Saito).
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec

Lam Dong : 1♀.
JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec


Notes

This is the first record from Thailand. The first discovery in Thailand, which was a photo taken by Masakazu Hayashi in Nakhon Nayok on 24.Dec.2015 and was confirmed by specimen on 01.Oct.2017.
The butterfly is very localized and uncommon in montane forests at moderate elevations.
The populations from Yunnan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (except Khanh Hoa) are slightly different in appearance. I suspect that they probably represent a separate taxon. Further taxonomic and distributional studies are needed.


Literature

Saito, K.,2011 : A new species of the genus Rapala Moore, [1881] (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from Vietnam.
Butterflies (Teinopalpus) 58:14-16.

Huang, H.,2023 : New or little known butterflies from China - 5 (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae et Hesperiidae)
Neue Ent. Nachr. 82:93-214.


Rapala persephone ♀ Rapala persephone ♀
♀, Khan Hoa, Vietnam. (photo by K.Saito)

Rapala persephone ♀ Rapala persephone ♀
♀, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand. (photo by M.Hayashi) ♀, 2015.12.24. Nakhon Nayok, Thailand. (photo by M.Hayashi)
Rapala persephone ♀
♀, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand. (photo by S.Sophonviwatkul)

2012.08.15 - 2023.10.31.

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