Pellicia brasiliensis R. Williams & E. Bell, 1939

Zhang, Jing, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui, Song, Leina & Grishin, Nick V., 2025, Advancing butterfly systematics through genomic analysis, The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey 12 (5), pp. 1-201 : 124

Pellicia brasiliensis R. Williams & E. Bell, 1939 is a subspecies of Pellicia ( Pellicia) dimidiata Herrich-Schäffer, 1870

Genomic analysis of the holotype of Pellicia brasiliensis R. Williams & E. Bell, 1939 (type locality in Brazil: Minas Gerais, sequenced as NVG-15097B10), currently a junior subjective synonym of Pellicia ( Hemipteris) meno (Mabille, 1889) , stat. rest. (type locality in Panama, holotype sequenced as NVG-15032E05) reveals that it is not monophyletic with it, but instead groups closely with Pellicia ( Pellicia) dimidiata Herrich-Schäffer, 1870 (type locality in Mexico and La Guaira, [ Venezuela]) ( Fig. 90 ). The current synonymy follows Evans (1953), who likely misidentified P. meno and mistook P. brasiliensis for it. Therefore, we propose that Pellicia ( Pellicia) dimidiata brasiliensis R. Williams & E. Bell, 1939 , stat. nov. is a valid subspecies.

Figures

Fig. 90. Phylogenetic trees of selected Pellicia species inferred from protein-coding regions in: a) the nuclear genome (autosomes), b) the Z chromosome, and c) [see next page] the mitochondrial genome. Primary type specimens are labeled in red-purple, and a paralectotype of P. tyana (not conspecific with the lectotype) is labeled in blue. Different species mentioned in the text are shown in different colors. The sequence of SAMN18587826 is taken from the alignment provided in Kawahara et al. (2023).