Shyam, Blaise, Vijay and others, The Mycalesis visala (Long-branded Bushbrown) thread has come a long way. Blaise’s pictures are now on the species page, and I took time to upload all of the variations that I have captured so far. These include the DSF from Bastar, and several more WSFs from Manas TR. So now we have a decent collection of wet and dry season forms of this variable species on the website. Check the updated species page:
http://ifoundbutterflies.org/444-mycalesis/mycalesis-visala I have also uploaded pictures of the male brands, which should make identification of this species easy. There is only one other Indian Mycalesis, Sahyadri Long-branded Bushbrown (Mycalesis igilia), that has such a long brand on the underside forewing: http://ifoundbutterflies.org/444-mycalesis/mycalesis-igilia but this is endemic to the southern Western Ghats. It also has the brand bicolored (uniform brown/cream-colored in visala), and the discal line is different (compare pictures). All the other long-branded bushbrowns in India have the underside forewing brands almost half the length of visala and igilia. You can find those species and pictures of their male brands at: http://ifoundbutterflies.org/444-mycalesis-dp2 With best wishes, Krushnamegh. ------------------------------------------------- Krushnamegh Kunte, PhD Post-doctoral Research Fellow FAS Center for Systems Biology Harvard University 52 Oxford St., Northwest Lab Room 458.40-3 Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Ph: (617) 496-0078, Cell: (512) 577-1370, Fax: (617) 495-2196 Email: [email protected] Website: http://biodiversitylab.org/ Indian Foundation for Butterflies: http://ifoundbutterflies.org/ IFB email: [email protected] ________________________________ From: SHYAM GHATE <[email protected]> Reply-To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 10:24:57 -0400 To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ButterflyIndia] Which is this one? Thanks, KK. Blaise has already sent similar pics and Amol confirmed that he has seen them before. cheers ________________________________ From: "Kunte, Krushnamegh" <[email protected]> To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 14, 2011 9:34 PM Subject: Re: [ButterflyIndia] Which is this one? Shyam, this species is actually quite common at Yeoor. I saw my very first Mycalesis visala at CEC Goregaon many years ago before I saw it in NE and C. India. Anyway, the species is common in all forested regions in the Western and Eastern Ghats, in the Eastern Himalaya and NE India, especially in deciduous and semi-evergreen forests. I have a very similar form photographed at Bastar (Chhattisgadh). It hasn’t yet found its way on the website, but it eventually will. Your picture is now posted at: http://ifoundbutterflies.org/3-lepidoptera/mycalesis-visala Krushnamegh. ________________________________ From: SHYAM GHATE <[email protected]> Reply-To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:41:36 -0400 To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ButterflyIndia] Which is this one? Thanks, KK. Interesting, because this was shot at Yeoor, SNGP, Thane Dist. last Sunday (2011/10/09). All your pics are from the Eastern side and Isaac's book also says that it is more common in the Eastern range. The book additionally mentions Distr. as Peninsular India - south of Karnataka. It will be interesting to know if any of the Mumbai - Thane regulars have recorded it earlier but (perhaps) not sent to the group. Cheers. --- On Tue, 10/11/11, Kunte, Krushnamegh <[email protected]> wrote: From: Kunte, Krushnamegh <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ButterflyIndia] Which is this one? To: "butterflyindia" <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 1:46 AM Shyam, this is a very characteristic dry season form of the Indian Long-branded Bushbrown (Mycalesis visala visala): http://ifoundbutterflies.org/444-mycalesis/mycalesis-visala This particular form is not yet represented on the website, so your picture would be a very welcome addition. Krushnamegh. ________________________________ From: SHYAM GHATE <[email protected]> Reply-To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 07:08:59 -0400 To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Subject: [ButterflyIndia] Which is this one? Need Id help. -- Enjoy
