Speyeria hesperis lurana dos Passos and Grey, 1945

Dunford, James C., 2009, Taxonomic overview of the greater fritillary genus Speyeria Scudder and the atlantis - hesperis species complexes, with species accounts, type images, and relevant literature (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (90), pp. 1-74 : 34

Speyeria hesperis lurana dos Passos and Grey, 1945

( Figure 32 )

Speyeria atlantis lurana dos Passos and Grey, 1945b: 8 .

Speyeria hesperis lurana dos Passos and Grey [ Scott et al. 1998].

Common name. Lurana fritillary.

Type deposited. Holotype at American Museum of Natural History ( Figure 32 ).

Type locality. Harney Peak, Black Hills, South Dakota.

Type label data. “ Holotype Speyeria atlantis lurana Cyril F. dos Passos and L. Paul Grey; HARNEY PEAK, S. D. [male] 25 VI-39 Col. By A. C. FREDERICK; L. P. Grey ” .

Identification, taxonomy, and variation. Both sexes are typically unsilvered, sympatrically occurring with silvered forms being those of S. atlantis pahasapa ( Scott et al. 1998) . Cliff Ferris (pers. comm.) notes that both ‘ S. h. lurana ’ and ‘ S. a. pahasapa ’ fly together and interbreed (or at least copulate) in the Big Horn Mountains, Washakie Co., Wyoming. The status or distinctness of these two subspecies should be further evaluated. Scott (2008a) suggests that these Big Horn populations best be called ‘ lurana x dennisi ’. Adult wingspan is on average 55 mm.

Range. Black Hills, South Dakota. Also recorded in Wyoming ( Grey et al. 1963).

Life history. I observed numerous individuals using creeks as flyways and feeding on various flowers in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota.

Figures

Figure 31-35. Type images for Speyeria spp.; dorsal, ventral, and label images. 31) Speyeria hesperis greyi holotype, described as Speyeria atlantis greyi, male, AMNH. 32) Speyeria hesperis lurana holotype, described as Speyeria atlantis lurana, male, AMNH. 33) Speyeria hesperis irene lectotype, described as Argynnis irene, female, NMNH. 34) Speyeria hesperis hanseni holotype, described as Speyeria atlantis hanseni, male, LACM. 35) Speyeria hesperis dodgei holotype, described as Argynnis dodgei, male, AMNH. Images 31-32 and 35 by James C. Dunford; 33 by Robert Robbins; 34 by Weiping Xie.