Philaethria ostara meridensis Constantino & Salazar

Constantino, Luis Miguel & Salazar, Julian A., 2010, A review of the Philaethria dido species complex (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae) and description of three new sibling species from Colombia and Venezuela, Zootaxa 2720, pp. 1-27 : 19-23

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.199882
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6211203
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03CF8A54-005D-FFC9-90FE-F938FE3E1208
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Philaethria ostara meridensis Constantino & Salazar
status

Treatment

Philaethria ostara meridensis Constantino & Salazar , n. spp.

( Fig. 23 View FIGURES 22 - 29. 22. P )

Diagnosis. P. ostara meridensis is recognized by the HW medial postdiscal band beige in color (red in P. di d o) and wide (in P. ostara araguensis is narrow), HW inner postdiscal band dark brown (black in P. dido ), HW with submarginal band very narrow with inner and outer black borders, HW postcellular spots small, FW anal cell bar black.

Haploid chromosome number: P. ostara meridensis contains a haploid chromosome number of n = 21 Description. Forewing length 46–48. Dorsal side of thorax and abdomen black, ventral side of abdomen and thorax white. Dorsal forewing ground color black with green-lemon bands like in P. dido . Ventral surface of hindwings with medial postdiscal band beige and wider between cells Cu2-Cu1, and Cu1-M3, (inner and outer bands parallel in P. o s t a r a o s t a r a), HW inner postdiscal band black. HW medial postdiscal band beige scattered with white scales, HW medial postdiscal band very narrow between veins 2A-1A, (wide in P. o s t a r a ostara ), FW medial green area large (smaller in P. ostara ostara ), FW medial cell bar dark brown scattered with cream scales and narrow (wide in P. andrei andrei ).

Type material. Holotype male: VENEZUELA: Barinas, El Cacao, Barinitas, 800 m, October 1987, F. Romero leg. Deposited in MIZA, Paratypes: VENEZUELA: Tachira, N. Tamá, Rio Negro, 500 m, February 1991, F. Romero leg. (CFR).

Etymology: The name refers to Cordillera de Merida where this subspecies is found in Venezuela. Distribution and habitat. P. ostara meridensis flies in premontane and montane forest habitats along the Cordillera de Merida (east slope) in the states of Barinas and Tachira, in central Venezuela between 500– 800 m. This subspecies is rare in collections and seldom seen. P. ostara meridensis flies sympatrically with P. neildi neildi along the Cordillera de Merida.