Abisara sobrina ( Mell, 1923 )

Huang, Si-Yao, Inayoshi, Yutaka, Léger, Théo & Espeland, Marianne, 2024, The riodinid taxa described by Rudolf Emil Mell (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea, Riodinidae), with notes on related ones, Zootaxa 5481 (5), pp. 591-599 : 592-594

Abisara sobrina ( Mell, 1923)

Figs. 1–10 , 19–27 , 30, 31

Sospita sobrina Mell, 1923: 159 . TL: ...Bergwälder in Westjünnan... (area around Fengyi town, Dali City, western Yunnan Province, southwestern China).

Abisara sobrina (Mell) : Huang 1987: 1162; Bridges 1994: 431; Lee 1995: 145.

Abisara freda Bennett, 1957: 27 , pl. 2, figs. 1–3. syn. nov.

Abisara freda daliensis Sugiyama, 1992: 10 , figs. 23, 24. syn. nov.

Type material examined. Lectotype (here designated) (fig. 1): male, printed red label “Type”/ yellow handwritten label “ Abisara sobrina | Parat-(paratype) 9. IX. (19)14 W.Yünan ” (upperside) 九ª九号在IJDZ小Ē佛Dz [Collected in Dali, Xiaochifo on 9 th September, from right to left] (underside) / print institutional label with QR-code “ MfN URI | http://coll.mfn-berlin.de/u/09c7f7” ( MfN) . Paralectotypes: 1 male, white handwritten label “ Chauchow | W. Yunnan | 15.VIII. (19)14” / printed red label “ Paratypus ” ( MfN) ; 1 male, white handwritten label “ Chauchow | W. Yunnan | 20.VIII. (19)14” / yellow handwritten label “ Ab. sobrina mell, | paratype” ( MfN); 1 male, yellow handwritten label “ 3.IX. (19)14 Thuk shek fuh (upperside) 九ª三号在IJDZ小Ē [in Dali , Xiaochifo on 3 rd September] (underside)” ( MfN) . Holotype of Abisara freda (fig. 2): male, yellow handwritten label “male | Loimwe | S. Shan State | 3. 27 (March 1927)” / printed round label with red ring “Type” / green label “R.1946 | A.S.C | 596” / printed QRcode label “ NHMUK015106996 ” ( NHMUK) . Additional material examined. CHINA: 3 males, 12.VII.2018, Baotaishan, Yongping County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture , Yunnan Province, leg. Si-yao Huang, dissection No. BTS01–03 ( CHSY) ; 1 male, 9.IX.2023, Songzishan, Changning County, Baoshan City , Yunnan Province, leg. Song-yun Lang, dissection No. RIOD0001 ( CLSY) . THAILAND: 1 male, 12. III. 1992, Fang District , Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, dissection No. CM1 ( CYI) ; 1 male, III-IV. 1997, Fang District , Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, dissection No. CM2 ( CYI) .

Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes. (1) In the original description, Mell (1923) did not mention the number of the specimens nor designate a holotype for this taxon, therefore all the specimens found in Mell’s drawer and bearing the original handwritten labels from Mell in the collection of MfN are syntypes. In order to stabilize the nomenclature we hereby designate the male with the red “Type” label as the lectotype of Sospita sobrina Mell, 1923 . The adult and male genitalia of the lectotype are illustrated herein. (2) The species Abisara freda Bennett, 1957 , widely distributed in southwestern China, eastern Myanmar and northern Indochina, is considered to be conspecific with A. sobrina since no constant difference in wing pattern nor male genitalia can be found, and it is synonymized with A. sobrina (syn. nov.) herein. Examination of the male genitalia of different populations of A. sobrina across its distribution range reveals some individual variation in genital structures, particularly in the length of the distal section of the uncus, the length of the juxta, the distal section of the central plate and the length of the carina of the phallus. Among them, the length of the juxta is the most variable. The lectotype of Sospita sobrina bears the longest juxta of the individuals we examined (fig. 19), and the holotype of Abisara freda bears a much shorter one (fig. 20). However, individuals with intermediate juxta length can be found (e.g. figs. 22, 24 and 27) in several localities, suggesting that such difference is merely individual variation and is not associated with geographical distribution. Therefore these two taxa cannot be separated by this feature and A. freda is considered conspecific with A. sobrina . It should also be noted that Bennett (1957) made a mistake when publishing the line drawing of the male genitalia of A. freda , that is the juxta was not fully depicted, and only the basal section was drawn (fig. 21). (3) The taxon Abisara freda daliensis Sugiyama, 1992 , described from two males collected from Dali, Yunnan, is almost from the same area as the syntypes of A. sobrina . Although the precise collecting site of the type series is unknown, no significant difference can be found between the type series of both taxa. Therefore it is considered as a new junior synonym of A. sobrina (syn. nov.). (4) During the search for information of the taxon sobrina on the internet, an additional male syntype was found on the website Butterflies of America (https://www.butterfliesofamerica.com/L/ abisara _sobrina .htm), bearing the following labels: printed red label “Type”/ green handwritten label “ Sospita sobri | na Mell / yellow handwritten label “ 九ª七号在IJDZ小Ē佛Dz [Collected in Dali, Xiaochifo on 7 th September] / white printed label “DNA sample ID | NVG-21124E01 | c/o Nick V. Grishin”. Therefore the type series of Sospita sobrina Mell consist of at least five specimens. However this specimen was not located in the collection of MfN.

Distribution. Southwestern China (western, central, northern and southwestern Yunnan), eastern Myanmar, northern Thailand, northern Laos and northern Vietnam (fig. 29).

Biology. This species can be found in areas of secondary or indigenous vegetation at medium altitude. Adults are active during the daytime, usually can be found resting on top of the leaves of brushes or grass (figs. 30, 31).

Figures

FIGURES 1–10. Abisara sobrina adult males. 1, LT, Dali, N Yunnan, China (MfN); 2, HT of A. freda, Loimwe, S Shan, Myanmar (NHMUK, ©The Trustees of NHMUK); 3, PLT, Dali, N Yunnan, China (MfN); 4, HT of A. freda daliensis, after Sugiyama (1992); 5, Songzishan, Changning, W Yunnan, China, RIOD0001 (CLSY); 6, Baotaishan, Yongping, W Yunnan, China, BTS01 (CHSY); 7, ditto, BTS02 (CHSY); 8, ditto, BTS03 (CHSY); 9, Fang, Chiang Mai, N Thailand, CM1 (CYI); 10, ditto, CM2 (CYI). a=upperside; b=underside; c=labels. Scale for all figures except fig. 4.

FIGURES 19–25. Male genitalia of Abisara sobrina. 19, LT (MfN); 20, HT of A. freda (NHMUK, ©The Trustees of NHMUK); 21, HT of A. freda, after Bennett (1957); 22, RIOD0001 (CLSY); 23, BTS01 (CHSY); 24, BTS02 (CHSY); 25, BTS03 (CHSY). Scale for all figures except fig. 21.

FIGURES 26–28. Male genitalia of riodinid taxa. 26, Abisara sobrina, CM1 (CYI); 27, ditto, CM2 (CYI); 28, Polycaena chauchowensis, LT (MfN). Scale for fig. 28.

FIGURES 29–33. Distribution map and living adults of the riodinid taxa in the study. 29, distribution map of Abisara sobrina and Polycaena chauchowensis, the records of A. sobrina from Laos and Vietnam were taken from the website of Butterflies in Indo-China; 30, Abisara sobrina, Baotaishan, W Yunnan, China, photographed by Si-yao Huang, upperside; 31, ditto, underside; 32, Polycaena chauchowensis, Pudacuo, N Yunnan, China, photographed by Zi-hao Liu, upperside; 33, ditto, underside.