Zaretis itys ( Cramer, 1777 )

Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Casagrande, Mirna Martins & Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik, 2012, Description of a new species of the genus Zaretis Hübner, [1819], with taxonomic notes on Z. itys and Z. itylus, stat. rev. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Charaxinae) and illustration of a gynandromorph, Zootaxa 3382, pp. 29-40 : 33-35

Zaretis itys ( Cramer, 1777) (Figs 13–16; 21–25)

Papilio itys Cramer, 1777 . p. 34, pl. 119, figs. F (female dorsal), G (female ventral); Surinam, (BMNH).

Papilio itus [sic] Cramer, 1777. p. 149; misspelling.

Zaretes [sic] itys ; Fruhstorfer, 1909. p. 166, fig. 1 (male genitalia).

Anaea (Zaretis) itys ; W. P. Comstock, 1961. p. 30, pl. 1, fig. 4 (female dorsal and ventral).

Zaretis itys ; Vane-Wright, 1975. p. 43–45. – De Vries, 1987. p. 117, pl. 15, figs. 12 (male dorsal), 13 (female ventral) and 14 (female dorsal). – Pyrcz & Neild, 1996, in: Neild, A. p. 105, pl. 20, fig. 855 (lectotype female ventral). – Willmott & Hall, 2004. p. 31, 1a (male dorsal), 1b (male ventral), 1c (female dorsal), 1d (female ventral).

Zaretis itys itys ; D’Abrera, 1988. p. 720 (female ventral, dorsal). – Lamas, 2004. p. 225.

Siderone itys itys ; Brevignon, 2006. p. 293–294; p. 299, figs 1–2 (male dorsal, ventral), 3–4 (female dorsal, ventral); p. 301, figs 17–19 (male genitalia).

Diagnosis: Male specimens can be distinguished from other species by the underdeveloped emargination on the forewing inner margin and other characters given by Willmott & Hall (2004). The color pattern of the wings is highly variable throughout the range. Females are distinguished from most Zaretis species by the forewings upper side color pattern that is brown distally, pale at the medial area, and orange basally, and can only be confused with females of Z. itylus . The female upper side color pattern is also highly variable, and the three colors described above can be indiscernible, almost uniform orange in some specimens. Even in those specimens, the pale band in the forewing is always distinct in the forewing underside. Similarly to Z. itylus , but unlike any other Zaretis species, the outer margin of the forewing is always evenly rounded until close to the apex. The emargination at the inner margin of the forewing is developed, but noticeably weaker when compared to females of Z. itylus . Furthermore, the spot in M1–M2 at the end of discal cell is large, giving a twisted appearance to the forewing pale-colored band. This is more readily observable in the forewing underside, where the intraspecific variation is less pronounced. There is evidence of seasonal polyphenism in this species: generally specimens from the wet season have rounded wings when compared with specimens from the dry season.

Taxonomic comments: The lectotype of Papilio itys Cramer, 1777 , designated by Vane-Wright (1975), is a female similar to Cramer’s (1777) original illustration. The description of " itys " given by Röber (1916: 578) most likely do not represent Z. itys : “ itys Cr. from Surinam is a female aberrative from in which the black costal-marginal spot of the forewings is prolonged as far as into the black apical distal margin”. The male genitalia illustrated by Comstock (1961) probably does not correspond to the species, since the specimen illustrated is reputedly from “Southern Brazil ” and therefore outside the range of Z. itys , only known from the Amazon basin. Additionally, there are important differences between the genitalia illustrated by Comstock (1961) and the one illustrated here ( Figs 21–25 ), from a specimen collected in the state of Pará, Brazil. The specimens illustrated and identified as Z. itys by Comstock (1961) (figures 3 and 6), Muyshondt (1973), D’Abrera (1988) (males in page 720), Brown (1992) (male and female, identified as Z. itys strigosus ), Pyrcz & Neild (1996) (figures 848–854), Brown & Freitas (2000) (identified as Z. itys strigosus ) and C. Mielke et al. (2004a) (male and female, identified as Z. itys itylus ) do not represent Z. itys . The identity of these specimens should remain uncertain until an in-depth revision is performed to determine the number of species involved, their respective phenotypes and original names. A male specimen of Z. strigosus ( Gmelin, [1790]) illustrated by Warren et al. (2012) is misleadingly labeled “ syntypus ”. The lectotype of Papilio strigosus Gmelin, [1790] is in fact a female designated and discussed by Vane-Wright (1975). Nevertheless, the name strigosus is not synonymous with either Z. itys or Z. itylus ; Willmott & Hall (2004) and Lamas (2004) consider this name synonymous with Z. isidora ( Cramer, 1779) . Preliminary molecular studies carried out by us indicate that the barcoding region of specimens of Z. itys from west of the Andes and Central America is markedly different from the barcoding region of specimens from Amazon basin and the Guyanas.

Distribution: Throughout the Amazon basin, in the Brazilian states of Amazonas, Pará, Roraima, Amapá, Acre, Rondônia and Mato Grosso; and moist and dry forests under 1500m in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolívia, Venezuela, the Guyanas and through Central America as far north as Costa Rica.

Type material: The lectotype of Papilio itys is deposited in the Rothschild collection ( BMNH) and bears the following labels: / Surinam Coll Lenep/ Felder Coll/ Lectotype / B.M. TYPE No. Rh 17307/ Papilio itys Cramer det. R. I. Vane-Wright 1972 LECTOTYPE Ψ/.

Examined material: BRAZIL, Acre, Mâncio Lima, PN Serra do Divisor, 3ɗ 10-21.IX.2011, Dolibaina leg., DZ 20.493, DZ 20.320, DZ 20.086 ( DZUP); Senador Guiomard, Reserva Catuaba, 1ɗ 2-5.IX.2004, 2ɗ 1,3- 5.X.2006, 1ɗ 31.I, 5.II.2009, Mielke & Casagrande leg. DZ 15.533, DZ 20.031, DZ 19.379, DZ 20.355, ( DZUP); Santa Rosa dos Purus, 2km E, 2ɗ 5.VIII.2008, Mielke & Carneiro leg., DZ 9.389, DZ 9.611 ( DZUP); Santa Rosa dos Purus, 9,2km SE, 1ɗ 6–8.VIII.2008, 1ɗ 15.VIII.2008, Mielke & Carneiro leg., DZ 9.207, DZ 6.340 ( DZUP); Porto Acre, Reserva Humaitá, 1ɗ 21.IX.2003, 1ɗ 28–31.VII.2008, O.–C. Mielke & Casagrande leg., DZ 20.611, DZ 15.547 ( DZUP); Amazonas, no data, 1Ψ XII.1942 Cardoso leg., DZ 19.666 ( DZUP); no data, 1ɗ, Stawiarski leg, DZ 20.238 ( DZUP); Maués, 1ɗ no data, Ebert leg., DZ 19.766 ( DZUP); Mato Grosso, Diamantino, Fazenda São João (Rio Arinos), 1Ψ 1–8.VIII.1974; 1Ψ 2.IX.1975, Ebert leg., DZ 20.617, DZ 20.274 ( DZUP); Pará, Óbidos, 1Ψ 1950, Winter leg., DZ 19.583 ( DZUP); 1Ψ 11.IX.1950, Cardoso leg., 19.716 ( DZUP); 1ɗ XII.1930, D'Almeida leg., DZ 20.219 ( DZUP); 1Ψ VIII.1973, Kesselring leg., DZ 20.393 ( DZUP); 1Ψ V1 II.1934, ex. coll. Ebert, DZ 19.292 ( DZUP); Itaituba, Rio Tapajós, 1ɗ and 1Ψ no data, D'Almeida leg., DZ 20.234, DZ 20.209 ( DZUP); 1ɗ no data, Ebert leg., DZ 19.707 ( DZUP); Rio Cuminá, 1 Ψ 16.VIII.1936, D'Almeida leg., DZ 20.396 ( DZUP); Dom Eliseu, Água Azul, 1ɗ 16.VII.1974, 1ɗ 25.VIII.1974, Mielke leg., DZ 15.596, DZ 15.540 ( DZUP); PERU, Loreto, Picuruyacu, 1ɗ X.2009, Hernandez leg., DZ 20.231 ( DZUP); San Juan de Poli, Rio Momon, 1ɗ IX.2009, Hernandez leg., DZ 20.510 ( DZUP); Madre de Dios, Reserva Tambopata, 1Ψ 26.X.1991, Mielke leg., DZ 19.628 ( DZUP); 1Ψ 25.X.1991, Robbins leg., DZ 19.244 ( DZUP); Parque Nacional del Manu, 1ɗ 27.IX.1991, Mielke leg., DZ 19.851 ( DZUP); Puerto Maldonado, Comunidad Infierno, 1ɗ 15–17.X.1983, Mielke & Casagrande leg., DZ 19.228 ( DZUP).

Figures

FIGURES 21 – 30. Male genitalia of Zaretis itys (Cramer, 1777) and Zaretis itylus (Westwood, 1850). 21 – 25. Z. itys. 21. Lateral view, valva, aedeagus removed; 22. Gnathos and uncus, ventral view; 23. Gnathos and uncus, posterior view; 24. Valva, lateral view; 25. Aedeagus, lateral view; 26 – 30. Z. itylus. 26. Lateral view, valva, aedeagus removed; 27. Gnathos and uncus, ventral view; 28. Gnathos and uncus, posterior view; 29. Valva, lateral view; 30. Aedeagus, lateral view. Scale bar = 0.5 mm