heliconoides

4. Ssp. heliconoides (Moore, 1877)²¹⁾ [♂♀] (♀: 2 forms)

＝pompeus (? heliacon), (Wood-Mason & de Nicéville, 1881³⁷⁾ (nec Cramer, 1777)

[♂, ♀] (India (South Andaman Is.))

(Distribution) [Map 118]

INDIA [Bay of Bengal] Andaman Islands (North Andaman Is., Middle Andaman Is., South Andaman Is., Brother Is.).

(Episodes of discovery and original description)

Moore (1877), who first described it, considered it an independent species similar to Tr. helena heliacon and gave it the species name heliconoides (similar to Tr. h. heliacon). The specimen described was found in Druce’s collection and was collected at Port Blair, South Andaman.

(Characteristics)

The specimens of the Andaman Islands, located in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, are quite scarce. This is because of the presence of a base for India’s defense strategy, as well as for the purpose of protecting the indigenous people, which severely restricts the travel of foreigners.

(Spotted pattern)

♂: Resembles ssp. cerberus in wing shape and spotted pattern, but distinguished by its smaller size, the peculiar shape of golden spot on subcostal space on HW, which are abruptly widened outward to V^8th, and the distinctly shorter finger-like projection along V^4th in space 4 than those along V^4th in the space 3 (the same length in other ssp.). High incidence of black discal spots.

♀: There are two forms. Dark discal spots on HW completely isolated.

1.   Dark form (♀-f. rhyparia (Jordan, 1908)¹⁸⁾): FW almost completely black.
2.   Light form (♀-f. heliconoides (Moore, 1877)²¹⁾) (=aphnea (Jordan, 1908)¹⁸⁾): FW with grayish white vein-stripes.