Dynastor pharnaces Stichel, 1908 stat. nov.

(Figs 28, 30–32)

Dynastor macrosiris pharnaces Stichel, 1908 . Berl. ent. Ztschr. 52 (3): 174, 1 male “ type ”, Coroico, [La Paz], Bolivia, 2000 m, Garlepp leg.; collection Staudinger, Mus[eum] Berol[inensis] [MfN].— Stichel, 1909. Das Tierreich 25: 26.— Fruhstorfer, 1912, in Seitz. Gross-Schmett. Erde 5, p. 290.— Stichel, 1932. Lep. Cat. 51, p. 22.—D’Abrera, 1987. Butt. Neotrop. Reg. 3, p. 394.— Casagrande, 2004. Brassolini, in Lamas (ed.) Checklist: Part 4A, Hesperioidea-Papilionoidea, in Heppner (ed.). Atlas Neotrop. Lep. 5A, p. 203.— Garzón-Orduña & Penz, 2009. Zootaxa 2134: 3.

Dynastor strix pharnaces; Blandin, 1977. Publ. Lab. Zool. l’École norm. sup., Paris, 9: 163; biogeogr.

Dynastor macrosiris [misidentification]; Matos-Maraví et al. 2021. Biol. Jour. Linn. Soc. 133 (3): 711, fig. 2 (phylogenetic tree); phylog (photo of the specimen available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nsg_db/5241930372/. Accessed July 5, 2023).

Taxonomic history. Dynastor macrosiris pharnaces was treated as described until Blandin (1977) considered it a subspecies of Dynastor strix . This subspecies was cited in reviews, catalogs, checklists, with records of hostplant and geographic distribution.

Type material. Dynastor macrosiris pharnaces Stichel, 1908 was described based on one male “type” from Bolivia, Corvico [=Coroico, La Paz] (Yungas, 2000 m, Garlepp leg.) i[n]. c[ollection]. Staudinger Mus. Berol. However, Viola Richter, the collection manager of MfN, where Staudinger’s specimens are deposited, informed the authors that the “type” was not found in the institution. In the original description, Stichel (1908) mentions another examined specimen: “Ein zweites gleiches Belagstück wurde mir vor etlicher Zeit zur Bestimmung gesandt.” According to one of us (G. Lamas), this second male is deposited at MNHN, with the following labels: / Muséum Paris/ Corvico ca. 2000 m. Bolivia (Yungas) 1895 (2–5) Garlepp/. As the “type” in Staudinger’s collection was not found at the MfN, the specimen deposited at the MNHN is probably the second specimen mentioned by Stichel in the original description, because it is from the same provenance of the “type”. Therefore, to stabilize the nomenclature of this taxon, the MNHN specimen is hereby designated as the lectotype of Dynastor macrosiris pharnaces Stichel, 1908, and the following labels will be attached to it: / LECTOTYPUS / Lectotypus Dynastor macrosiris pharnaces Stichel, 1908, Piovesan, Casagrande & O. Mielke det. 2024/.

Diagnosis. Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. is morphologically similar to Dynastor hannibal stat. rest., Dynastor macrosiris, and Dynastor strix stat. rest.; it differs from Dynastor macrosiris by the VFW with a distinguishable rusty red band between M 1 and M 3, this band is thinner than that of Dynastor strix stat. rest. Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. differs from Dynastor hannibal stat. rest. by the VFW and VHW with a ripple pattern strongly and irregularly arranged (Figs 24–25, 30, 32–34, 38–39). The female genitalia is similar to those of Dynastor strix stat. rest., mainly the corpus bursae, but the morphology of the lamella postvaginalis differs from all species by the “}” shape sclerotization (Figs 27, 31, 36, 41). The male genitalia of Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. was not examined.

Comments. FW, length of the available female: 57 mm. Since its description, Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. has been treated as a subspecies of Dynastor macrosiris or Dynastor strix stat. rest. However, the wing color pattern, the morphology of the male genitalia, and the molecular data allow us to change the status to the species level. Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. has a wing color pattern similar to Dynastor hannibal stat. rest., mainly in the VFW rusty red band between M 1 and M 3, and also occurs in similar high elevations (2,000 –2,250 m). However, the VFW and VHW ripple pattern differs: while Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. has this ripple pattern strongly and irregularly arranged, Dynastor hannibal stat. rest. has the VFW and VHW with a ripple pattern finely and homogeneously arranged. Comparing the DNA barcode sequence provided by Matos-Maraví et al. (2021) for Dynastor pharnaces stat. nov. with the sequence obtained here for Dynastor hannibal stat. rest., the divergence found agrees with the differences found in the morphology.

Natural history. Unknown.

Geographic distribution. Ecuador (Napo); Peru (Amazonas, Junín); Bolivia (La Paz) (Fig. 28), at elevations between 2,000 and 2,250 m.

Temporal distribution. January, July, October.

Etymology. Possibly named after Pharnaces II, king of Pontus.

Specimens examined. Photos of the lectotype of Dynastor macrosiris pharnaces (Fig. 32), and the following specimens: ECUADOR: Ecuador Oriente —no locality, 1 female, ex-coll. F. Johnson, AMNH_IZC 00352907 (AMNH) . Napo — Estación Biológica Yanayacu, 13-I-2009, 1 female, H. F. Greeney leg. (Matos-Maraví et al. 2021) . PERU: Junín — Chanchamayo, 1 female *, ex-coll. F. Johnson, USNMENT01589343 (USNM); ( Mina Pichita) , 2000 m, 16–17-X-1989, 1 male, Casagrande & Mielke leg. (MUSM) . Amazonas —San José de Molinopampa, 06°17’S, 77°33’W, 2250 m, 18-VII-2005, 1 female, B. Calderón leg. (MUSM) .