Pontia simplonia Freyer, 1829

Balletto, Emilio, Barbero, Francesca, Bonelli, Simona, Casacci, Luca P. & Dapporto, Leonardo, 2020, Stabilisation of some names of European butterflies (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) in their prevailing usage, Zootaxa 4780 (2), pp. 387-395 : 390

Pontia simplonia Freyer, 1829

(Beitr. z. Gesch. europ. Schmett., 2 (13): 87, no. 99, Pl. 73, Fig. 2 [Note: although this name was originally published as ‘ Papilio Pontia simplonia’, we take it as having been described as a species of Pontia , not of Papilio , by analogy to the provisions of Opinion 134 ( ICZN 1939), and Direction 4 ( ICZN 1954a)]. LT: “ Croatia ”. TD: (Male holotype by monotypy) lost.

Parts of Freyer’s butterfly collection, which consists in a series of sealed glass boxes arranged in cabinet drawers, is preserved in Eichstätt (Jura-Museum—see Pfeuffer 2000, 2003, 2006). Mr. Andreas Hecker very kindly took for us a series of pictures of the relevant specimens, which had to be photographed through the glass since the boxes are sealed. These pictures, however, are fully adequate to demonstrate that no specimen of Euchloe surviving in Freyer’s collection corresponds to the original picture and declared type locality (see below). The holotype of Pontia simplonia is therefore presumably lost.

a) In his original description, Freyer declared that he had received a specimen already labelled as ‘Simplonia’, which he thought to represent just a brightly coloured individual of ‘ Pap. Ausonia ’ Hübner. Yet, he published this name in the caption to his Pl. 73, Fig. 2 to draw the attention of lepidopterists, and to leave them free to choose between either of the two names. One might argue that Pontia simplonia Freyer was originally published as a junior synonym (Art. 11.6), but the name remains valid because it was treated as an available name before 1961 and was adopted as the name of a taxon by Staudinger (1901), Oberthür (1909), Verity (1909), as well as by many other later authors.

Other important problems with Freyer’s name are that i) the accompanying plate is subjectively ambiguous, and ii) in the last line of the text relating to it the author writes: “Pap. Simplonia wurde in Croatien gefangen”, which contrasts with the fact that the taxon currently identified as Euchloe simplonia (Freyer) occurs only in the western Alps, while only some rare, probably migratory, specimen of Euchloe ausonia might occasionally be observed in Croatia (see Lorković in Higgins 1980).

b) On the basis of this type locality, Higgins (1934: 225), identified the taxon represented by this name as the ‘eastern dappled white’, which he considered to represent the correct name for the taxon misidentified as Papilio belia by ‘Cramer’ [recte Stoll], 1782 (from “Smyrne”, see below).

c) Staudinger (1901), Spuler (1908), Verity (1909), Oberthür (1909), Higgins & Riley (1980), etc. considered Pontia simplonia the correct name for the ‘mountain dappled white’, while:

d) Higgins & Riley (1983) and Emmet & Heath (1990), in contrast, deemed it the correct name for the ‘western dappled white’.