Thursday 6 August 2015

84. Lexias pardalis eleanor (The Common Archeduke)

Number: 84
Family: Nymphaliidae
Sub-Family: Limenitidiinae
Species: Lexias pardalis eleanor (Fruhstorfer, 1898) 
Common name(s): The Common Archeduke
Photography location: Tam Dao foothills (Vinh Phuc Prov.)

The genus Lexias ("Archdukes") comprising 17 species, of which 4 are known to occur in Vietnam - pardalis, dirtea, cyanipardus and albopunctata (Monastyrskii & Devyatkin, 2016). 
Lexias pardalis ranges from N.-E.India to Borneo, S.China.

Lexias pardalis is relatively common in my habitual butt hunting grounds. Adults are typically sighted on shaded trails and among undergrowth, often seen puddling on damp ground, or feeding on rotting fruits and other organic matter amongst forest litter. 

Male Lexias pardalis

Above, the male is dark velvety black above with a broad greenish-blue distal border on the hindwing, which is continued narrowly along the termen of the forewing

Two males feasting on rotten fruits

The male, underwings

Female Lexias pardalis

The female is dark brown and profusely spotted with yellow

The apical portion of the antennal club is orange in both sexes and this distinguishes this species from the closely-related and very similar Black-Tipped Archduke (Lexias dirtea).

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