Ithomiola tessera J. Hall, 2005

Zhang, Jing, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui, Song, Leina & Grishin, Nick V., 2024, Taxonomic advances driven by the genomic analysis of butterflies, The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey 11 (7), pp. 1-43 : 10

Ithomiola tessera J. Hall, 2005 is a species distinct from Ithomiola theages (Godman & Salvin, 1878)

Originally described and currently treated as a subspecies of Ithomiola theages (Godman & Salvin, 1878) ( type locality in Costa Rica) ( Fig. 9 purple), Ithomiola theages tessera J. Hall, 2005 ( type locality in COI barcodes differ by 3.5% (23 bp). Moreover, the two taxa differ by the size and alignment of white discal spots on the forewing ( Hall 2005). Therefore, we propose that Ithomiola tessera J. Hall, 2005 , stat. nov. is a species distinct from Ithomiola theages (Godman & Salvin, 1878) . Furthermore, inspection of genomic trees reveals three new species that differ from the previously described ones due to their genetic differentiation even as single specimens ( Fig. 9, yellow highlight in 9a). These three new species are described below.