Xeniades difficilis Draudt, 1923

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 : 50

Xeniades difficilis Draudt, 1923 , reinstated status

Proposed as a species, Xeniades difficilis Draudt, 1923 (type locality Bolivia: Coroico) was considered a subspecies of Xeniades orchamus ( Cramer, 1777) (type locality Suriname) by Evans (1955). Genomic sequencing and comparison of X. difficilis holotype (NVG-18093D12) with X. orchamus specimens reveals profound genetic differentiation ( Fig. 11 ), for example, their COI barcodes differ by 4.9% (32 bp). Therefore, we reinstate Xeniades difficilis Draudt, 1923 as a species-level taxon.

Figures

Figure 11. Genomic tree of Hesperiina and relatives. See Fig. 1 legend for notations.