Graphium (Pazala) parus ( Nicéville, 1900 )

Zhang, Hui-Hong, Cotton, Adam M., Condamine, Fabien L., Wang, Rong-Jiang, Hsu, Yu-Feng, Duan, Kuang, Zhang, Xin & Hu, Shao-Ji, 2020, Revision of Pazala Moore, 1888: The Graphium (Pazala) alebion and G. (P.) tamerlanus Groups, with Notes on Taxonomic and Distribution Confusions (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), Zootaxa 4759 (1), pp. 77-97 : 83-86

Graphium (Pazala) parus ( Nicéville, 1900) ( Figure 6 )

Papilio parus Nicéville, 1900 ; J. Bomb. nat. Hist. Soc., 13 (1): 172, pl. EE, f. 21; TL: ‘Tse Kou, Western China’ [Yanmen (in the upper Lancang-Mekong valley), Deqen, N.W. Yunnan, China].

Cosmodesmus tamerlanus incertus O. Bang-Haas, 1927 , Horae Macrolepid., 1: 1, pl. 5, f. 3; TL: ‘ China mer. occ.: Szetschwan, Tatsienlu, Tsekou, Siaolu’ [Kangding, Yanmen, and Washan, Sichuan, SW. China].

Cosmodesmus tamerlanus taliensis O. Bang-Haas, 1927 , Horae Macrolepid., 1: 2, pl. 5, f. 4; TL: ‘ China mer. occ.: Jünnan, Tali’ [Dali, Yunnan, SW. China].

Pazala incerta Chou, 1994 ; Monographia Rhopalocerorum Sinensium: 55, 176. [unjustified emendation]

Pazala eurous Leech ; Lee, 1995; Yunnan Butterflies: 51 (f. 65, n. 4). [misidentification]

Pazala tamerlanus Oberthür ; Lee, 1995; Yunnan Butterflies: 51 (f. 67, n. 2), 140. [misidentification]

Diagnostic characters: Larger than G. (P.) alebion , forewing length: male 33.5–40.5 mm (mean=37.6 ± 1.4 mm, n = 83), female 39.5–42.0 mm (mean = 40.5 ± 1.3 mm, n = 3). Both wings broader, ground colour dull creamy white with a slight greyish tinge; all black markings on both wings rather thick and prominent. Forewing the 1 st, 2 nd, 8 th, 9 th black bands and the terminal (10 th) black band all reach tornal margin in both sexes; area between the 8 th and 9 th bands distinctively filled by dark scales (the extent varies among individuals but without geographical association) in male, but not in the female (only indicated near the apex); the 7 th band not displaced inward in cell R 4; veins CuA 2 to M 2 stained with black distally. Hindwing discal band not broadened towards costa; no whitish small patch at the base of tail in cell M 3; tornal yellow spots much smaller and divided on both sides.

Distribution: China (W. and N.W. Yunnan, W. Sichuan, and S.E. Tibet: mostly in the upper Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, and Yangtze watersheds); Myanmar (N. Kachin State).

Host plants: Shao-Ji Hu observed females in ovipositing posture around bushes of Litsea chuii var. likiangensis (Lauraceae) in Yulong Xueshan, N.W. Yunnan, but no eggs were collected for rearing to confirm whether this Litsea is its host plant.

Male genitalia ( Figure 7 ): In total, 20 male genitalia of specimens collected from Yunnan and Sichuan were dissected, and the general characters were consistent. Highly sclerotized. Ring slightly wavy in the upper half; saccus small but moderately sclerotized; socius toothed laterally, distance between the base of socii 0.58–0.70 mm (mean = 0.64 ± 0.05 mm, n = 20). Valve short, oval in general, dorsal terminal harpe long pear-shaped, edge serrate with the base separated; the medial harpe long and slightly curved, the dorsal projection bayonet-shaped with pointed or toothed tip; no tooth in the middle of the medial harpe. Aedeagus long, strongly curved ventrally. Juxta long, weakly sclerotized with hairy membrane on both sides.

Female genitalia ( Figure 8 ): In total, two females were available for dissection, and the characters are consistent. Lamella postvaginalis small; lamella antevaginalis broad horizontally, covered with sclerotized wrinkles; ostial lobe much less sclerotized, sac-shaped with a blunt bifurcate tip in lateral view, the posterior margin curved with slight indentations in ventral view, and the ventral surface possesses a pair of small lobes in the median portion.

Figures

FIGURE 6. G. (P.) parus (Nicéville, 1900); upperside above, underside below; scale bar = 10 mm. A: ♂, Weixi, Yunnan, China; B: ♂, Zhongdian, Yunnan, China; C–D: ♂, Yulong Xueshan, Yunnan, China; E: ♀, ditto; ♂, F: Baoxing, Sichuan, China.

FIGURE 7. Male genitalia of G. (P.) parus (Nicéville, 1900) from Yulong Xueshan, Lijiang, N.W. Yunnan, China; scale bar = 1.0 mm. All: genitalia as a whole, R.: lateral view of ring, TSU: dorsal view of tegumen, socii and uncus, V.: right valve, Ae.: lateral view of aedeagus, Ju.: ventral view of juxta.

FIGURE 8. Female genitalia of G. (P.) parus (Nicéville, 1900) from Yulong Xueshan, Lijiang, N.W. Yunnan, China; scale bar = 1.0 mm.