Eryphanis lycomedon (C. Felder and R. Felder, 1862 )

Penz, Carla M., 2008, Phylogenetic Revision of Eryphanis Boisduval, with a Description of a New Species from Ecuador (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae), Insecta Mundi 2008 (35), pp. 1-25 : 10-11

Eryphanis lycomedon (C. Felder and R. Felder, 1862) , status revised ( Fig. 1B , 2B , 4B , 5B , 6B )

Type locality. Colombia .

Diagnosis. Both sexes similar to E. automedon . Males can be distinguished from E. automedon by having a purple iridescent sheen on HW (glossy when specimen is tilted), and HW margin usually with a pale brown outline dorsally, plus the valva with an even width and slightly wider at tip. The widened valva tip can be often seen in pinned specimens without dissection, thus facilitating identification. Females nearly indistinguishable from E. automedon , but the following trend was observed. In females of E. lycomedon the dorsal FW iridescence forms a pale blue sheen barely extended into discal cell, the dorsal HW pale brown outline is usually well developed. The HW iridescence is usually less extended distally within the Cu1 and Cu2 cells, and the projection at vein Cu1 is usually more pronounced than in E. automedon . Old, faded females from locations overlapping with E. automedon can only be confidently distinguished from the latter by the sterigma through dissection.

Annotated redescription. Male. FW length 55-60 mm (n=5). Dorsal FW and HW with purple iridescent sheen extended from submedial to postmedial areas of the FW. In some specimens the FW iridescence can be sufficiently strong to form an iridescent patch. Iridescence of the HW usually a sheen and not forming a discrete patch, but in some specimens HW iridescence can be sufficiently strong to approximate an iridescent patch. Dorsal FW submarginal line faint, diffuse, continuous. Dorsal HW marginal outline thin to vestigial or absent. HW with a projection at vein Cu1 that extends beyond anal margin. Ventral FW and HW faded caramel color. Ventral HW white postmedial transverse band vestigial or absent. Ventral HW eyespot in cell Cu1 contained within cell. Uncus elongate and slender, valva nearly uniform in width and slightly widened at tip, gnathos broad, sharp-pointed and with small terminal spines.

Female. FW length 57-66 mm (n=5). Wing color pattern different from male. Dorsal FW and HW with sky-blue iridescent patches. Iridescent patches on medial areas of both wings, slightly larger on the HW. FW iridescent patch barely extends into cell Cu1 and discal cell, but is conspicuous across cell Cu2. Dorsal FW submarginal line faded orange, conspicuous, continuous, nearly straight. Submarginal branch of FW submarginal line starts at M1, and postmedial branch starts at wing margin or below the R stem, and joins the submarginal branch in cell M2. Dorsal HW iridescence less extended distally than in E. automedon . Dorsal HW marginal outline vestigial to moderately developed, depending on the locality. Ventral surface of wings as in male. Posterior edge of sterigma with delicate transverse ribs, sterigma projection with two blunt points.

Distribution. Guatemala to Colombia ( DeVries 1987), expanded here to Ecuador, Bolivia and Southern Brazil (Santa Catarina), with an estimated altitudinal range of 0-1,200 m ( DeVries 1987 and Appendix 1). Contrasting the closely related E. automedon , the range of E. lycomedon includes Central America and western South America, but is extended eastward into southern Brazil. Although I haven’t seen specimens from Paraguay, it would not be surprising if this species occurred in that country.

Species status. Two issues need to be considered regarding this species: name and status. The taxon demonstrated here to be distinct from E. automedon corresponds to what has been previously known as E. polyxena Meerburgh, 1780 , or E. polyxena lycomedon (see DeVries 1987). Nonetheless, the name ‘ polyxena’ is preoccupied and thus invalid ( Cowan 1974, Casagrande 2004). The type locality for E. polyxena is ‘America’, but given that Meerburgh was a Dutchmen the material he studied probably came from Surinam, which is also the type locality of E. automedon . Therefore, Casagrande (2004) correctly considered E. polyxena a synonym of E. automedon . Note that the replacement name E. automedaena ( Hübner, 1819) was proposed for E. automedon by Hübner (1819:51) to address an issue of gender agreement with his genus Moera Hübner (junior synonym of Amathusia Fabricius , see Hemming 1967), and this name was also synonymized by Casagrande (2004).

Examination of a series of specimens of E. lycomedon and E. automedon verified that these two taxa show clear and consistent differences both in wing color and genitalic morphology ( Fig. 1-2 , 4-6 ). Males of E. lycomedon differ from E. automedon by the wing iridescence forming a diffuse sheen on the HW (compare Fig. 1A and B ), and the valva being sub-terminally narrow and broadening at the very tip (compare Fig. 4A and B ), which can be seen in pinned specimens without dissection. Females are distinguished from E. automedon by the faintness or absence of the iridescence inside the FW discal cell, the smaller iridescent patch on the HW plus the usually well developed dorsal HW pale brown outline (compare Fig. 2A and B ), and the posterior edge of sterigma with delicate transverse ribs (compare Fig. 6A and B ). Furthermore, these species have overlapping geographical distribution (males in Fig. 1A and B were both collected in Cali, Colombia; see also Appendix 1). In combination, color pattern, genitalia, and sympatry provide strong evidence that E. lycomedon and E. automedon constitute separate species. Finally, the E. lycomedon specimens studied here ( Fig. 1B , Appendix 1) match the type locality and original description in Felder and Felder (1862), and also the description in Frühstorfer (1912).

Remarks. Six dissected males from five countries (Appendix 1) show consistent genitalic morphology. In a few of these specimens the HW iridescence is strong, approximating the pattern in some of the less iridescent E. automedon males (see above). Examination of type specimens will be necessary to verify if there are any valid, described subspecies that could be assigned to E. lycomedon . For example, the descriptions of E. automedon novicia (type locality Ecuador, Los Rios) in Stichel (1909) and Frühstorfer (1912) seem to match the general wing color of E. lycomedon . In females of both E. lycomedon and E. automedon the HW projection at vein Cu1 varies in size (e.g., it is short in Costa Rican specimens, see DeVries 1987; it is long in Colombian specimens, Fig. 2B ). A brief life history account is given by DeVries (1987) for Costa Rican E. lycomedon .

Figures

Figure 1. Eryphanis adult males, dorsal side on the left, ventral side on the right. Scale bar next to A = 1cm. A) E. automedon, Colombia, Cali. B) E. lycomedon, Colombia, Cali. C) E. reevesii, Brazil, São Paulo, Pinhal. D) E. bubocula, Costa Rica, Guanacaste, Rio San Lorenzo. E) E. aesacus, [Mexico], Catemaco. F) E. gerhardi, Bolivia. G) E. zolzivora, Bolivia. H) E. greeneyi, Ecuador, Napo, Yanayacu Biological Station, HOLOTYPE. I) E. opimus, Colombia, Cali.

Figure 2. Eryphanis adult females, dorsal side on the left, ventral side on the right. Scale bar next to A = 1cm. A) E. automedon, Paraguay, Pedro Juan Caballero. B) E. lycomedon, Colombia, Cali. C) E. reevesii, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Nova Friburgo. D) E. bubocula, Costa Rica, Cartago, Tapanti. E) E. aesacus, Mexico, Oaxaca, Tuxtepec.F) E. gerhardi,Brazil, Rondonia, Jaru.G) E.zolzivora, Bolivia, Cochabamba. H) E. greeneyi,Ecuador, Napo, Yanayacu Biological Station, PARATYPE.

Figure 4. Eryphanis male genitalia in lateral view, with separate drawings of the phallus. Scale bar next to A = 1mm. Note that the phallus was not removed from the genitalic capsule, and the drawing angles are thus not homogeneous across species. A) E. automedon, Colombia, Cali. B) E. lycomedon, Colombia, Cali. C) E. reevesii, Brazil, São Paulo, Pinhal. D) E. bubocula, Costa Rica, Guanacaste, Rio San Lorenzo. E) E. aesacus, Mexico, San Luis Potosi. F) E. gerhardi, Bolivia, Cochabamba. G) E. zolzivora, Bolivia, Cochabamba. H) E. greeneyi, Ecuador, near Baños, PARATYPE. I) E. opimus, Colombia, Cali.

Figure 5. Eryphanis male genitalia in ventral view, with separate drawings of the juxta and dorsal view of tegumen+uncus. Scale bar next to A = 1mm. A) E. automedon, Colombia, Cali. B) E. lycomedon, Colombia, Cali. C) E. reevesii, Brazil, São Paulo, Pinhal. D) E. bubocula, Costa Rica, Guanacaste, Rio San Lorenzo. E) E. aesacus, Mexico, San Luis Potosi. F) E. gerhardi, Bolivia, Cochabamba. G) E. zolzivora, Bolivia, Cochabamba. H) E. greeneyi, Ecuador, near Baños, PARATYPE. I) E. opimus, Colombia, Cali.

Figure 6. Eryphanis female sterigma and corpus bursa. Ribs of the intersegmental sac were omitted. Scale bars next to F = 1mm, note that sterigma and corpus bursa are in different magnifications. A) E. automedon, Peru, Puerto Maldonado. B) E. lycomedon, Costa Rica, Puntarenas. C) E. reevesii, Brazil, São Paulo, Pinhal. D) E. bubocula, Costa Rica, Cartago, Tapanti. E) E. aesacus,Mexico. F) E. gerhardi, Brazil, Rondonia, Jaru. G) E. zolzivora, Bolivia, Cochabamba. H) E. greeneyi, Ecuador, Napo, Yanayacu Biological Station, PARATYPE.