Dynastor macrosiris (Westwood, 1851)

(Figs 24–29)

Brassolis macrosiris Westwood, 1851, in Doubleday. Gen. Diurn. Lep. 2, p. 351, pl. 59, fig. 3 (female d); Cayenne [French Guiana].—Lucas, 1851, in Chenu (ed.). Enc. d’Hist. nat., Pap. diurn., p. 173.—Herrich-Schäffer, 1865. Corr.-Blatt zool.-min. Ver. Regensburg 19 (5): 64.—Kirby, 1871. Syn. Cat. Diurn. Lep., p. 125.

Megastes macrosiris; Boisduval, 1870. Consid. Lép. env. Guatemala, p. 53.

Opsiphanes macrosiris; Kirby, 1879. Cat. Coll. Diurn. Lep. Hewitson, p. 107.

Dynastor macrosiris; Godman & Salvin, 1881. Biol. Centr.-Amer., Lep. Rhop. 1 (12), p. 122.— Staudinger, 1887, in Staudinger & Schatz. Exot. Schmett. 1 (18), p. 214.— Röber, 1889, in Staudinger & Schatz. Exot. Schmett. 2 (5), p. 192.— Stichel, 1902. Berl. ent. Ztschr. 46 (4): 523.— Moss, 1935. Proc. ent. Soc. London (A) 9 (3): 97; biol.— Blandin, 1977. Publ. Lab. Zool. l’École norm. sup., Paris, 9: 163, 166, 168, 177, 191, fig. 5 (geogr. distr.); biogeogr.— Urich & Boos, 1982. Living World 1981-1982: 34; biol., hostplant.—Ackery, 1988. Biol. Jour. Linn. Soc. 33 (2): 100; hostplant.—Urich & Emmel, 1991. Trop. Lep. 2 (2): 141; biol., hostplant.—Casagrande, 1995. Rev. bras. Zool. 12 (3): 683, figs 10 (male gen.).—Moreno et al., 1998. Marip. Ecuador, p. 123, 155 (fig. male v).— Penz et al., 1999. Jour. Lep. Soc. 53 (4): 148; hostplant.— Garzón-Orduña & Penz, 2009. Zootaxa 2134: 3, figs 1c (male d, v), 4, 6 (phylogenetic tree), 8g (male gen.).

Dynastor macrosiris macrosiris; Stichel, 1904, in Wytsman. Gen. Ins. 20, p. 10.— Stichel, 1909. Das Tierreich 25: 25.— Fruhstorfer, 1912, in Seitz. Gross-Schmett. Erde 5, p. 289.—Kaye, 1914. Trans. ent. Soc. London 1913 (3): 549.— Stichel, 1932. Lep. Cat. 51, p. 21.—D’Abrera, 1987. Butt. Neotrop. Reg. 3, p. 394 (figs male d, female v); syn.: hannibal .— Casagrande, 2004. Brassolini, in Lamas (ed.) Checklist: Part 4A, Hesperioidea-Papilionoidea, in Heppner (ed.). Atlas Neotrop. Lep. 5A, p. 203.—Blandin, 2003, in Lacomme & Manil. Lép. Guyane 1 (2), p. 18, 77.—Santin, 2004. Répert. plantes-hôtes subst. chen. lépid. monde (2 nd ed.), 2, p. 858; syn.: hannibal; hostplant.—D’Abrera, 2005. World Butt., p. 94, 245, pl. 125, fig. 1 (female v). — Penz & Mohammadi, 2013. Biota Neotrop. 13 (3): 156.

Taxonomic history. Brassolis macrosiris was described by an illustration; transferred to Opsiphanes by Kirby (1879) and to Dynastor by Godman & Salvin (1881). This species was treated as a subspecies by Stichel (1904) and the subsequent authors in reviews, catalogs, checklists, and natural history studies.

Type material. Brassolis macrosiris Westwood, 1851 was described based on an illustration of an unspecified number of specimens. One syntype male was found at the NHMUK, with the following labels: / Type/ Macrosiris Bd. Cayenne / EX MUSAEO Dris BOISDUVAL/ Brassolis macrosiris, (Boisd) typicum specimen — Genera of diurna. Lepid. Dbd. Westw. Hew — pl. LIX. fig. 3./. To stabilize the nomenclature of this taxon, this male is hereby designated as the lectotype of Brassolis macrosiris Westwood, 1851, and the following labels will be attached: / LECTOTYPUS / Lectotypus Brassolis macrosiris Westwood, 1851, Piovesan, Casagrande & O. Mielke det. 2024/.

Diagnosis. Dynastor macrosiris is morphologically similar to Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov., Dynastor hannibal stat. rest., and Dynastor strix stat. rest., but differs from the cited species by the FW with (if present) a diffuse and thinner light-yellow oblique band, VFW without a distinguishable rusty red band between M 1 and M 3 near the outer margin, and VFW and VHW with a ripple pattern finely and homogeneously arranged (Figs 24–25, 30, 33–34, 38–39). The male genitalia of Dynastor macrosiris also differs from the other species in having the apex of gnathos posteriorly projected and the posterior half of the valvae triangular (Figs 26, 35, 40). The female genitalia are very similar to Dynastor hannibal stat. rest., and Dynastor strix stat. rest., but the paired signa are longer (Figs 27, 36, 41).

Variation. FW, length: male 64–74 mm (n=3), female 51–54 mm (n=2). DFW, the thin oblique band may or may not be visible. VFW, shape and color of postdiscal patches and spots. VHW, number, size, and shape of the spots.

Comments. Compared to other Brassolini genera such as Opsiphanes (Piovesan et al. 2022), the availability of information on the geographical distribution of Dynastor is very scarce. Despite the few records, some patterns seem to emerge: of the four similar and closely related species, Dynastor macrosiris, Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov., Dynastor hannibal stat. rest., and Dynastor strix stat. rest., only Dynastor macrosiris and Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. are cis-Andean species. However, while Dynastor macrosiris occurs at low elevations (30–600 m), distributed throughout the Amazon biome, Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. is distributed in montane forest (2,000 and 2,250 m) in the Andes, from Bolivia to Ecuador. Dynastor macrosiris is sympatric with Dynastor darius .

Natural history. Information on the immature stages of Dynastor macrosiris can be found in Moss (1935), Urich & Boos (1982), and Urich & Emmel (1991a).

Hostplants: Bromeliaceae: “arboreal bromelias” (Moss 1935), Aechmea nudicaulis (L.) Griseb (Urich & Boos 1982; Urich & Emmel 1991a).

Geographic distribution. Ecuador (Orellana); Peru (Loreto, Pasco, San Martín); Trinidad and Tobago (Sangre Grande) (Urich & Boos 1982; Urich & Emmel 1991a); French Guiana (Cayenne, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni); Brazil (Amazonas, Pará) (Fig. 28), at elevations between 30 and 600 m.

Temporal distribution. May (Moss 1935), June, August, October (Urich & Emmel 1991a), November, December (Urich & Boos 1982).

Etymology. Possibly refers to a giant individual from Greek mythology.

Specimens examined. Photos of the lectotype of Brassolis macrosiris (Fig. 29), and the following specimens: PERU: Río Huallaga —no locality, 1 female, ex-coll. F. Johnson, AMNH_IZC 00352908 (AMNH). Loreto —San Juan de Polis, 14-XI-2010, 1 female *, Ramírez leg., OM 78.930 (DZUP-OM), Río Momón (San Juan de Polis), 03°37’S, 73°25’W, 130 m, 14-XI-2010, 1 male, J. J. Ramírez leg. (MUSM), Río Ampiyacu (Pebas), [03°19’S, 71°51’W], 120 m, XI-1992, 1 female, H. Lequerica leg. (MUSM). Pasco —[ Río] Pichis, 300 m, 1 female, ex-coll. LeMoult, UFFLMNH MGCL 1107878 (MGCL). BRAZIL: Amazonas — São Paulo de Olivença, 20-VI-1934, 1 female *, ex-coll. Gagarin, DZ 2356 (DZUP). Pará —Óbidos, 1 male *, DZ 54.260 (DZUP).

iNaturalist records: ECUADOR: Orellana — Parque Nacional Yasuní, 0°40’26.9”S, 76°23’53.2”W, 28- XI-2022, Pablo Alvia. PERU: San Martín —Tarapoto, 6°28’2.64”S, 76°19’45.34” W, 13-VIII-2014, Neil Rosser. FRENCH GUIANA: Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni 5°19’38.4”N, 54°03’58.5”W, 31-VIII-2020, Lejocelyn . (available at: inaturalist.org/observations/143197928; inaturalist.org/observations/107165178; inaturalist.org/ observations/150021014. Accessed June 30, 2023).