41b. Atrophaneura astorion zaleucus (Hewitson, [1865])

Papilio zaleucus Hewitson, [1865], Ill. Exot. Butts., 3 (54): [6], pl. [3], f. 24–25; TL: ‘Burmah’ [Myanmar].

Byasa zaleucus ♂ v. punctata Evans, 1923, J. Bomb. nat. Hist. Soc., 29 (1): 231; TL: ‘ Shan States-S. Burma’. [IFS]

Papilio zaleucus f. indiv. anomala Rousseau-Decelle, 1947; Bull. Soc. ent. Fr., 51 (9): 128; TL: ‘Kalataung, Tavoy, Birmanie’. [IFS]

Atrophaneura zaleuca Chou, 1994; Monographia Rhopalocerorum Sinensium: 53, 104. [UE]

Distribution: found in lowlands in S. to S.E. Yunnan; also found in Myanmar and Indochina.

Note: Populations of A. astorion in eastern Laos and central Vietnam are within a hybrid zone—males often look like ssp. astorion, some have white streaks on the veins of the hindwing underside, whereas others have black scaled veins like normal astorion . There is a similar hybrid zone between ssp. varuna and ssp. zaleucus in the upper Malay Peninsula around Phetchaburi Province, Thailand, near the Myanmar border. However, the whitish streaks on the hindwing veins are not a typical morphological character of ssp. zaleucus across its range and are only found in the hybrid zones, hence we treat them as separate subspecies.