Graphium chironides subsp. malayanum, Eliot, 1982, Eliot, 1982

Phon, Chooi-Khim, Kirton, Laurence G. & Kuah, Meng-Kiat, 2024, Morphological and genetic analyses verify the occurrence of the butterfly Graphium chironides (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) in Peninsular Malaysia and resolve the confusion on the validity of its subspecies malayanum Eliot, 1982, European Journal of Taxonomy 917 (1), pp. 94-121 : 115

Revised differential diagnoses for G. c. malayanum as a subspecies

Graphium c. malayanum is the only non-continental subspecies of G. chironides . It has been recorded from southernmost Thailand ( Inayoshi 2023b) to Peninsular Malaysia. Other subspecies ( Page & Treadaway 2014) are G. chironides chironides , which occurs from northeast India to central and south China, G. chironides tereus (Fruhstorfer, [1908]) , which occurs in Hainan, and G. chironides clanis Jordan, 1909, which occurs in Southeast China. A fifth nominal subspecies, G. chironides punctatus Page & Treadaway, 2014 , said by its describers to occur in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, is of uncertain validity as a subspecies because the characters used to diagnose it, such as an additional blue hindwing spot in space 3, can sometimes be found on specimens of subspecies chironides (e.g., Kehimkar 2008: 147, fig. 17UP) and may be absent in specimens from within the stated geographical range of punctatus (e.g., Ek-Amnuay 2012: pl. 33, P65, first row, right). Furthermore, the stated range of punctatus divides the range of the nominate subspecies, making the distribution of the latter somewhat disjunct.

In the continental subspecies, the forewing pale bluish discal band is very often crossed by black scaling along the upperside of veins 1b and 2, which may be so extensive as to form wide black borders between well-separated pale spots. The hindwing band is also usually crossed by black scaling that may be very prominent too. The forewing band is variable in width but is often narrower than in subspecies malayanum. Continental subspecies sometimes have a bluish white spot in space 3 at the cell-end on the hindwing upperside.

The following is a more accurate differential diagnosis for subspecies malayanum with respect to the continental subspecies of G. chironides , based on Eliot’s (1982) original diagnosis and specimens we were able to examine: forewing upperside lacks black scaling along vein 1b on the pale bluish discal band, and usually also lacks black scaling across the band along vein 2, or the latter may be very narrowly black-scaled. Hindwing upperside lacks black scaling across the pale bluish band along vein 8, the basal part of vein 7 and the radius. Upperside pale discal forewing band wide. No bluish-white spot present in space 3 at the cell-end on the hindwing upperside.

Synonymies and corrections to literature

Only historical name changes and current corrections are shown in the brief synonymic lists below. For explanatory notes on the nomenclatural history of G. chironides and the stability of its name, see Supp. file 4 (Part A). Our rationale for rejecting the synonymy of malayanum with chironides suggested by Ek-Amnuay (2012) is explained further in Supp. file 4 (Part B). The errors in Saigusa et al. (1977) corrected below are a mix-up in the plates that do not appear to have affected the analyses and conclusions of the authors.