Cobalopsis zetus (Bell, 1942)

Zhang, Jing, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui & Grishin, Nick V., 2022, Taxonomic changes suggested by the genomic analysis of Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera), Insecta Mundi 2022 (921), pp. 1-135 : 69

Cobalopsis zetus (Bell, 1942) , reinstated status

Considered a junior subjective synonym of Cobalopsis nero ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1869) (type locality not given) by Mielke and Casagrande (2002), Cobalus zetus Bell, 1942 (type locality Mexico: Guerrero) is not monophyletic with it ( Fig. 14 ). We sequenced the holotype of C. zetus (NVG-18027A08) in AMNH and syntypes of the following taxa in the ZMHB: Hesperia autumna Plötz, 1882 (type locality [ Panama: Veragua], NVG-15035A06) and Pamphila edda Mabille, 1891 (type locality Panama: Chiriqui, NVG-15035D09), the latter taxon treated by Evans (1955) as a junior subjective synonym of the former (which we confirm), C. nero (NVG-15034H09) and Carystus dyscritus Mabille, 1891 (type locality Colombia, NVG-15035D11) in the ZMHB, the latter taxon treated by Evans (1955) as a junior subjective synonym of the former (which we confirm). Their phylogenetic analysis reveals that C. zetus is sister to C. autumna , and C. nero is sister to them both ( Fig. 14 ). Genomic analysis agrees with phenotypes of these specimens: C. zetus holotype keys out to C. autumna in Evans (1955: 159) due to brown ventral hindwing, vs. grayer hindwing in C. nero . Therefore, not willing to take the next step and prematurely synonymize C. zetus with C. autumna , we reinstate it as a species, a hypothesis to be tested in future work.

Figures

Figure 14. Genomic tree of Moncina, part 2. See Fig. 1 legend for notations.