First documented sighting of Brephidium exilis within Qatar!

Gestart door Julian, maart 10, 2014, 17:14:23 PM

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Julian

Hello everybody!


Can I get some help with the ID of this butterfly I saw in Qatar? Couldn't find anything similar yet in my books (Don't have an Identification Guide that covers the Arabian area though).
http://observation.org/waarneming/view/81846453unidentified butterfly - Rhopalocera observed at 2014-02-20 Qatar - Al WakrahPhotos:Thanks in advance,
Julian Overweg

nick w

I think Blues is the right group, but after that I've no idea....

Regards,
Nick W

paulhoekstra

groeten,
Paul

Jacob Molenaar

Groeten van Jacob Molenaar.
Levenslijst vogels 442 soorten, totaal 5000 soorten.

To be at the right moment, at the right place, with the right gear, or not to be, that is the question. B)

Julian

That's true Jacob. I'd have asked my questions in Dutch if it would have been about a sighting within The Netherlands. In this case I rather communicate in English because it's an Observation.org Sighting and there might be non-Dutch speaking persons reading this as well. All help is welcome!  :duim:

The descriptions of the observations you refer to are notes to myself so I can find the right pictures to add to the sightings.

Thanks everybody for the Posts! :blink:

nick w

Would Arhopala species occur in Qatar?

Regards,
Nick W

Jacob Molenaar

Groeten van Jacob Molenaar.
Levenslijst vogels 442 soorten, totaal 5000 soorten.

To be at the right moment, at the right place, with the right gear, or not to be, that is the question. B)

nick w

I've no idea whether this is true... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lepidoptera_of_Qatar  I suspect it is rather incomplete, considering what you've got here.

Regards,
Nick W

Julian

Citaat van: paulhoekstra
It looks a lot like a Brephidium: http://butterfliesofamerica.com/t/Brephidium_exilis_a.htm

However, that genus doesn't occur in Asia :rolleye:


You're right! Pretty scary!  :o




Citaat van: nick w
I've no idea whether this is true... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lepidoptera_of_Qatar

Can't be the complete list. At least not anymore (with my sighting). :rolleye:


-----
Oops, didn't read your edit. Sorry Nick!

nick w

well, butterflies can travel on boats and planes (in plants, for instance) so we can't really exclude this being an escape, but I've found a book on butterflies of the Arabian peninsula so maybe next week I'll be able to say more...

Regards,
Nick W

Julian


nick w

well, the book is here but that too seems incomplete. I just can't get any closer, sorry.

Regards,
Nick W

Julian

Hi Nick,

Many thanks for all the effort! :)
Hopefully the people from http://www.qatarbirds.org are able to help (I just sent them an E-mail).

Kind Regards,
Julian

nick w

I hope so... I'm getting very curious now  ;)

Regards,
Nick

Julian


Citeer
Dear Qatar Birding experts,


While having a holiday in Qatar last February we found some of this butterflies at the Al Wakrah beach. Till now I couldn't find any similar species on the Internet so I asked for help on this Message Board:
http://forum.waarneming.nl/smf/index.php?topic=266790.0;topicseen


One of the Board Members wrote that it's pretty similar to species from the Brephidium genus. "However, that genus doesn't occur in Asia".


Please see this link for the exact location of my observation.
http://observation.org/waarneming/view/81846453


Are you able to tell me more about those butterflies?


Kind Regards,
Julian Overweg, The Netherlands


Citeer
Dear Julian,


Thanks for your interesting sighting. If you get any firm answers from anyone, please let me know. In the meantime I'll try to get it identified.


Neil (Morris)

(Posted here with permission).

nick w

nou, ook geen directe ID dus. Blijft spannend...

groet,
Nick W

Martin Scheper

#16
Er is geen "Arabisch" blauwtje die lijkt op het blauwtje van Julian (Larsen, T.B., 1984: Butterflies of Saudi Arabia and its neighbours).
Het moet wel een Brephidium sp. zijn, zie het bericht van Paul. Daar heb je drie soorten van, twee uit Midden/Noord-Amerika en een uit het zuiden van Afrika. Deze laatste, B. metophis, is het volgens mij niet als ik Woodhall, S., 2005: Field guide to Butterflies of South Africa er op na sla. Blijven over B. exilis en B. pseudofea en het verschil tussen beiden is lastig. Ik ken de kenmerken niet, maar als ik de plaatjes vergelijk lijkt het erop dat de onderzijde van B. exilis wat meer tweekleurig is met een wat "grijzere" binnenste helft, terwijl de onderzijde bij B. pseudofea dat kleurverschil minder heeft en bruiner is. Dan lijkt de foto van Julian meer op B. exilis. De soort zou daar dan bijvoorbeeld met plantmateriaal (zie het bericht van Nick van 11 maart) terecht gekomen kunnen zijn.

http://butterfliesofamerica.com/t/Brephidium_a.htm
Martin.

P.S. Op pad gaan is leuker dan achter de P.C.!

Michael Skelton

It is indeed Brephidium exilis, which has apparently been accidentally introduced to the Arabian peninsula.  See: www.soceurlep.eu/tl_files/nota/bd29_1/02%20Pittaway_final.indd.pdf

Michael

nick w


Julian

Mystery solved! :) Many thanks for the input/effort everybody! :duim:

The article sums up: United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia for Brephidium exilis. Is it safe to say that the first documented observation of this species in Qatar is in observation.org (my observation)?  :o

Kind regards,
Julian Overweg

nick w

For Qatar, possiby yes. The paper specifies UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman but not Qatar. You might want to contact the author and report it.

Regards,
Nick

Julian

Hi all,

I've sent an E-Mail to Erik J. van Nieukerken from Naturalis with the question whether this is the first documented observation of this species in Qatar, or not. He's on the contacts list of the website that published the article. Here's my mail (in Dutch):

Citeer
Beste heer van Nieukerken,

Tijdens een vakantie in Qatar, Februari dit jaar, zag ik een voor mij onbekende dagvlindersoort. Dankzij de hulp van anderen op o.a. het forum van waarneming.nl weet ik nu dat het om Brephidium exilis gaat. Zie deze link: http://forum.waarneming.nl/smf/index.php?topic=266790.0

Michael Skelton gaf deze link over de soort op het Arabisch schiereiland:
http://www.soceurlep.eu/tl_files/nota/bd29_1/02%20Pittaway_final.indd.pdf
Echter worden alleen de United Arab Emirates, Oman en Saudi Arabia genoemd.

Via http://www.soceurlep.eu/index.php?id=26 kwam ik op uw E-Mail adres en zodoende heb ik deze mail gestuurd.

Mijn vraag is: betreft dit de eerste gedocumenteerde waarneming van Brephidium exilis in Qatar?

Hier is de directe link naar mijn waarneming op observation.org: http://observation.org/waarneming/view/81846453

Vriendelijke groeten,
Julian Overweg

Julian


Received a response from Erik J. Nieukerken already. He advised to contact Tony Pittaway (the Author of the article). I just sent this E-Mail to Tony Pittaway and Neil Morris:


Citeer
Dear Tony Pittaway,


Via this E-Mail I would like to inform you about a sighting of Brephidium exilis in Qatar:


http://observado.org/waarneming/view/81846453


Last february I went on a vacation in Qatar when I noticed a butterfly that I didn't recognise. Thanks to several persons I learned that "my" butterfly is Brephidium exilis. See this link for the Message Board discussion:
http://forum.waarneming.nl/smf/index.php?topic=266790.0


Are you able to tell me if this is indeed the first documented sighting of this species within Qatar?


This mail is also sent to Neil Morris who kindly helped looking for the ID of this butterfly. Neil told me that he sent the record to associates in Qatar who will be interested to know of the outcome. So we wouldn't talk at cross-purposes.


Thanks in advance,
Julian Overweg, The Netherlands

Julian


Mail from Tony Pittaway:


Citeer
Dear Julian,


Although this butterfly has recently been recorded from Kuwait, your record is the first documented sighting within Qatar.


Regards,


Tony


(Posted with permission.)


Once more: Thanks to everybody who was involved around this sighting! :duim:


Best regards,
Julian

nick w


paulhoekstra

#25
Good finding, congratulations :duim:
groeten,
Paul

Julian

Thanks! :)

It's now time to post some other butterflies on this forum.  :rolleye: After a few days in Qatar we headed to Thailand. I'll start some new threads!