Lycaena arion (Linnaeus, 1758)

Korb, Stanislav K., 2018, On the blue butterfly taxa established by L. G. Courvoisier with the type locality “ Narün ” (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae), Zootaxa 4429 (3), pp. 589-594 : 591

Lycaena arion L. f. naruena Courvoisier, 1911 ( figs. 7–9, 12 , 16C )

Courvoisier, 1911a: 202; 1911b: 108, type locality: “…aus Narün, durch Vermittlung von H. Dr. M. Wiskott…”

The type series contains Phengaris cyanecula (Eversmann, 1848) , not P. arion (Linnaeus, 1758) (the discal spot on the forewing upperside in males is wider, than the marginal border), and they definitely originate from the Central Asiatic mountains (large and bright wing pattern elements are characteristic for the Central Asian subspecies of this species; the typical Siberian P. cyanecula male is figured on fig. 3 and differs very well by small wing pattern elements, the typical P. cyanecula male from Central Asia is figured on fig. 6 ). A female specimen was figured as the type of this taxon by its author.

It is important to note that the area of P. cyanecula does not include Europe where the locality “Narün” is located. According the last revision of the Palaearctic Phengaris ( Korb, 2011: 34) its distribution covers “mountain regions of South Siberia and Far East, Tian-Shan, Alai, Dzhungaria, Saur, Tarbagatai, Mongolia, Central, North-Eastern and West China, North Corea ”. Thus, it is impossible to collect this species in Europe.

The type series contain 2 syntypes. To preserve the nomenclatural stability, it is necessary to designate the lectotype of this taxon. I designate this lectotype here, a female specimen ( figs. 9, 12 ), which is figured in the paper of L.G. Courvoisier (1911b: pl. 2, fig. 13 ), labelled: pink paper, printed “ TYPUS ”; pink paper, handwritten “Narün | 1909 Wisk.”; white paper, handwritten “F. naruena m. 1910”.

The other syntype specimen, female, is designated here as paralectotype.

As we can see from the comparison we made, the type series of this taxon was definitely collected in Central Asia. In this situation the type locality “Narün” must be treated as “Naryn” and therefore the taxon belongs to the Central Asiatic fauna, with following nomenclatural implications due to the Principle of Priority: Phengaris cyanecula naruena (Courvoisier, 1911) , stat.rev. = P. cyanecula sosinomus (Fruhstorfer, 1915) , syn.n., = P. cyanecula sauron (Korb, 2003) , syn.n.; type locality must be corrected as well: “Narün” (Naryn in Inner Kyrgyzstan).

Figures

FIGURE 16. The designated lecotype labels. A: Lycaena phlaeas naruena (Courvoisier, 1911); B: Polyommatus icarus wiskotti (Courvoisier, 1911); C: Phengaris cyanecula naruena (Courvoisier, 1911); D: Plebejus idas naruena (Courvoisier, 1913).

FIGURES 1–15. Polyommatus, Plebejus, Phengaris and Lycaena specimens. 1, 2: Polyommatus venus (Staudinger, 1886), lectotype male, upperside (1), underside (2). 3: Phengaris cyanecula (Eversmann, 1848), male, Russia, Bashkortostan, Yantysh village, upperside (right side) and underside (left side). 4, 5: Polyommatus icarus wiskotti (Courvoisier, 1911), lectotype male, upperside (4), underside (5). 6: Phengaris cyanecula (Eversmann, 1848), male, Kyrgyzstan, Suusamyr valley, Sary-Kaiky gorge, upperside (right side) and underside (left side). 7, 8: P. cyanecula naruena (Courvoisier, 1911), paralectotype male, upperside (7), underside (8). 9, 12: P. cyanecula naruena (Courvoisier, 1911), lectotype female, upperside (9), underside (12). 10, 11: Plebejus idas naruena (Courvoisier, 1913), lectotype male, upperside (10), underside (11). 13: P. idas (Linnaeus, 1761), male, Kyrgyzstan, South shore of Issyk-Kul lake, Kichi-Dzhargylchak environs, upperside (left side), underside (right side). 14, 15: Lycaena phlaeas naruena (Courvoisier, 1911), lectotype male, upperside (14), underside (15).