Parnassius cephalus haba Hu & Cotton, 2023

Hu, Shao-Ji, Cotton, Adam M., Lamas, Gerardo, Duan, Kuang & Zhang, Xin, 2023, Checklist of Yunnan Papilionidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) with nomenclatural notes and descriptions of new subspecies, Zootaxa 5362 (1), pp. 1-69 : 11

6c. Parnassius cephalus haba Hu & Cotton ssp. nov. ( Figure 3 )

Description: ♂. Forewing length: 36–38 mm. Forewing upperside: ground colour cream whitish, base and costa peppered with blackish scales; two short black bands in middle and at end of discocell; discal band greyish, serrate, with three blackish spots in cells CuA 2, M 1, and R 3; postdiscal band blackish, termen grey. Forewing underside: similar to upperside, paler, with all veins reddish. Hindwing upperside: ground colour cream whitish, basal one third heavily marked with black; two red ocelli bordered by black connected by wavy greyish discal band; subapical patch triangular and greyish, followed by four black spots with blue-grey centre, termen grey. Hindwing underside: similar to upperside, paler, with all veins reddish. ♀. Forewing length: 36–37 mm. Wings more rounded, ground colour darker, markings similar to male, all black and grey markings larger.

Differential diagnosis: 1) Larger than other known subspecies in adjacent mountains in N.W. Yunnan, length of forewing: ♂ 36–38 mm, ♀ 36–37 mm (length of forewing: ssp. elwesi : ♂ 32–36 mm, ♀ 31–36 mm; ssp. paimaensis : ♂ 34–36 mm, ♀ 34–36 mm; ssp. takenakai : ♂ 31–33 mm, ♀ 34–35 mm). 2) Very dark in general appearance, compared to ssp. elwesi and ssp. takenakai , also darker than ssp. paimaensis , especially in females. 3) The postdiscal band connecting two red ocelli on the male hindwing complete (incomplete or rather faint in the other three Yunnan subspecies), more prominent in females.

Type material: HOLOTYPE: ♂, Haba Xueshan (4,500 m), Zhongdian, Diqing Prefecture, 2015-VI-15, Y. Yang leg. [ KIZ] . PARATYPES: 1♀, the same collecting data as the holotype; 4♂♂ , 4♀, the same locality as the holotype, 2016-V-29, Y. Yang leg. [ SJH]; 1 ♂, 1♀, Haba Xueshan (4,200 m), Zhongdian, Diqing Prefecture , 2015- VI-1–5, Y. Yang leg. [ AMC]; 1 ♂, 1♀, Haba Xueshan (4,000 m), Zhongdian, Diqing Prefecture , 2016-V, Y. Yang leg. [ AMC] .

Holotype housed in the collection of the Kunming Institute of Zoology.

Distribution: Confined to Haba Xueshan in Zhongdian County.

Etymology: The subspecies is named directly after the type locality Haba Xueshan in N.W. Yunnan, and is a noun in apposition.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Types of Parnassius cephalus haba Hu & Cotton ssp. nov.; upperside of the first row, underside on the second row; A: holotype, ♂, B: paratypes, ♂, C–D: paratypes, ♀; scale bar = 10 mm.