Libythea geoffroyi Godart [1823]

Kawahara, Akito Y., 2013, <strong> Systematic revision and review of the extant and fossil snout butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Libytheinae) </ strong>, Zootaxa 3631 (1), pp. 1-74 : 14-16

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3631.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A355AA9D-3644-4F29-84AA-5D398D2EE6D0
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03FF87C7-FFE4-4341-76E7-F91DFA6FD04F
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Libythea geoffroyi Godart [1823]
status

Treatment

Libythea geoffroyi Godart [1823] View in CoL

( Figs. 4 View FIGURES 2−13 , 16, 28, 41, 56, 79–102)

Libythea geoffroyi Godart [1823] View in CoL : 236.

Libythea geoffroy View in CoL [sic]: Godart [1824]: 813.

Libythea myrrha: Masters 1873: 18 View in CoL [misidentification]. Waterhouse 1905: 14 [= geoffroyi View in CoL nicevillei View in CoL ].

Libythea (Libythea) geoffroy View in CoL [sic]: Pagenstecher 1901: 3 [lapsus calami, follows Godart [1824]].

Libythea (Libythea) geoffroyi: Pagenstecher 1902: 2 View in CoL .

Libythea geoffreyi [sic] Petersen 1968: 108.

FIGURES 14−25. Ventral view of the male eighth abdominal tergum of Libythea View in CoL and Libytheana View in CoL . Stippling denotes depressed regions. 14. Libythea celtis View in CoL ; 15. Libythea collenettei View in CoL ; 16. Libythea geoffroyi View in CoL ; 17. Libythea labdaca View in CoL ; 18. Libythea laius View in CoL ; 19. Libythea lepita View in CoL ; 20. Libythea myrrha View in CoL ; 21. Libythea narina View in CoL ; 22. Libytheana carinenta carinenta View in CoL ; 23. Libytheana fulvescens View in CoL ; 24. Libytheana motya View in CoL ; 25. Libytheana terena View in CoL .

Diagnosis. Libythea geoffroyi is a sister to L. cinyras + L. narina , and it can be readily distinguished from other species in the genus by having a sexually dichromatic wing pattern, where the male dorsal wing surface is blue and dark brown. Females are typically brown with orange and white marks on the dorsal surface of the forewing. Both sexes have a weakly falcate forewing apex.

Known Distribution. Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, New Caledonia, New Guinea, northern Australia including Lord Howe Island, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Thailand.

Biology. The larva feeds on leaves of Celtis paniculata (Endl.) Planch. and C. philippensis Blanco (Celtidaceae) . Reports of the larva feeding on Cryptocarya sp. (Lauraceae) and Pometia pinnata J. R. Forster & G. Forster (Sapindaceae) are probably erroneous because snout butterflies typically only feed on species of Celtis ( Shields 1985b, Kawahara 2006a, b). Host plant references were extracted from: d’Abrera (1977), Common & Waterhouse (1981), Johnson & Valentine (1989), Fox (1995), and Igarashi & Fukuda (2000).

Remarks. The female may superficially resemble L. narina , but it can be distinguished by its tawny band on the hindwing dorsum between M 1 and CuA 1. Many authors, including Godart himself, have misspelled the specific epithet as ‘ geoffroy ’. In 1823, Godart described geoffroyi , but used ‘ geoffroy ’ in his 1824 publication, which is often incorrectly cited as the original description for the species. Libythea geoffroyi shares a morphological feature with L. cinyras and L. narina : the position of the apical point of the juxta is along the ventral margin (Kawahara 2009). Cladistic analyses place this species ancestral to L. cinyras + L. narina because it does not have a discrete triangular mark in hindwing cell Sc + R 1 (Kawahara 2009).

Key to subspecies of Libythea geoffroyi View in CoL

1. Hindwing dorsum of male iridescent blue and bright orange ( Fig. 97 View FIGURES 85−100 ), hindwing dorsum of female bright orange with a dark brown band along the outer margin ( Fig. 99 View FIGURES 85−100 ); New Ireland and New Britain Islands............ Libythea geoffroyi pulchra

– Hindwing dorsum usually without orange, but if orange present, restricted to a narrow median band; various localities in Southeast Asia........................................................................................ 2

2(1). Male with outer forewing margin dark brown and wide, at least as wide as half the length of CuA 2; blue forewing color of discal cell separated from white subapical marks in M 1 -M 3 by a wide dark brown band ( Fig. 79 View FIGURES 69−84 ), female with pale blue band in forewing 1A + 2A; Southern China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand......................... Libythea geoffroyi alompra

– Male with outer forewing margin less than half the length of CuA 2, blue forewing color of discal cell separated from white subapical marks by the narrow brown line of the wing vein, female with or without pale blue band in forewing 1A + 2A; Indonesia, northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and other Pacific islands.................... 3

3(2). Forewing dorsum of male with a bright white mark in the apex of the discal cell and between M 3 and CuA 2 ( Fig. 85 View FIGURES 85−100 ); northwestern Australia................................................................... Libythea geoffroyi genia View in CoL

– Male without white marks or with very pale white marks on forewing dorsum, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and other Pacific Islands................................................................................ 4

4(3). Forewing apex of male weakly falcate (e.g., Figs. 81 View FIGURES 69−84 , 101 View FIGURES 101−116 ), female with white subapical marks and orange proximal marks on forewing dorsum ( Fig. 83 View FIGURES 69−84 )............................................................................. 5

– Forewing apex of male falcate ( Fig. 93 View FIGURES 85−100 ), female with white subapical marks and white or blue proximal marks on forewing dorsum.............................................................................................. 6

5(4). Hindwing margin scalloped ( Figs. 81-84 View FIGURES 69−84 ), Halmahera and Seram Islands................... Libythea geoffroyi ceramensis

– Hindwing margin entire ( Figs. 101, 102 View FIGURES 101−116 ), Rennell Island................................. Libythea geoffroyi howarthi

6(4). Male with wide dark band along forewing outer margin, white marks on dorsal surface pale or absent ( Fig. 93 View FIGURES 85−100 ), light blue mark along forewing 1A + 2A of female extending to hindwing base ( Fig. 95 View FIGURES 85−100 ); Philippines......... Libythea geoffroyi philippina

– Male with or without wide dark band along forewing margin, if wide dark band present, then large white marks on dorsal surface present; pale blue mark along forewing 1A + 2A of female not extending to base of hindwing ( Fig. 91 View FIGURES 85−100 ); Indonesia, New Caledonia, northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands.......................................... 7

7(6). Male with continuous white subapical band in cells Rs 4, M 1 and M 2 of forewing, female with large white mark from M 3 to 1A + 2A; San Cristobal Island, Solomon Islands........................................... Libythea geoffroyi eborinus

– Male without continuous white subapical band in cells Rs 4, M 1 and M 2 of forewing, female with large white mark from M 3 to CuA 2 ( Figs. 89, 91 View FIGURES 85−100 ); Indonesia, New Caledonia, northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Guadalcanal Island.......................................................................................... Libythea geoffroyi geoffroyi View in CoL

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Lepidoptera
Family	Nymphalidae
Genus	Libythea