venus

20. Ssp. venus Hayami, 1991¹⁶⁾ [♂, ♀]

(Distribution) [Map 133]

INDONESIA [Riau Is.] Southern Natuna Islands (Subi Besar Is., Serasan Is.)

(Episodes of discovery and original description)

This new subspecies was described by Hayami in 1991 based on 16♂♂ and 12♀♀ collected in May 1977 on Subi Island, South Natuna Islands, northwest Borneo. The subspecies is named after Venus, the ancient Roman goddess of love, beauty and peace.

(Characteristics)

A small subspecies. Very similar to ssp. bunguranensis and ssp. sugimotoi, but its differences from the former have already been mentioned above.

(Spotted pattern)

♂: Vein-stripes on the undersurface of FW resemble those of ssp. sugimotoi with only a few stripes present submarginally. The black marginal border is broad and black projections are high. The semi-translucent golden spot on the subcostal space extends gradually towards the V^8th, while it is the same width in ssp. sugimotoi.

♀: Intermediate form: Dark brown FW with indistinct vein-stripes, not reaching the cell in   V^1b – V^4th. The dark discal spots on HW are small and only touch each other, but they are fused with the dark projections in spaces 2 – 4. The subcostal space has only a minute yellow spot submarginally.