Libythea laius Trimen 1879

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 : 26-29

Libythea laius Trimen 1879

( Figs. 6 , 18, 30, 43, 58, 109–118)

Libythea laius Trimen 1879: 337 , 339.

Dichora laius Fruhstorfer 1898: 170 .

Libythea (Dichora) laius: Pagenstecher 1901: 12 , 13.

Libythea (Dichora) lajus [sic] Pagenstecher 1902: 3.

Libythea werneri Fruhstorfer 1903b: 112 . Shields, 1984a: 265 [= Libythea laius laius ].

Dichora werneri Hering 1921: 264 .

Libythea laias [sic]: Ehrlich 1958: 314.

Libythea lajus [sic] Puységur 1967: 25.

Libythea labdaca: Williams 1994: 154 , pl. 10, Figs. 102a, b [misidentification].

Diagnosis. Libythea laius is most similar to L. labdaca by sharing similar dorsal wing markings, but differs from the latter in that the rectangular orange mark in discal cell apex is fused or separated by less than 1 mm from a triangular orange mark arising from discal cell base.

Type Specimens Examined. Libythea laius Trimen 1879 , PARATYPE: ♀, [ South Africa]: Natal. Libythea lepitoides Moore 1901 , HOLOTYPE: ♂, India: Co[o]noor, Nilgherries [Nilgiris], Davidson ( BMNH). Libythea tsiandava Grose-Smith 1891 , HOLOTYPE: ♂, Madagascar ( BMNH).

Distribution. East Africa, Madagascar, southern India, and Sri Lanka.

Biology. Host plants include: Celtis africana Burm., C. australis L., C. mildbraedii Engl. , C. soyauxii Engl. (Celtidaceae) . Host plant data were extracted from: Clark & Dickson (1964), Shields (1987b), Williams (1994), and Santin (1998).

Remarks. Libythea laius has been confused with other species of Libythea , namely L. cinyras , L. labdaca , and L. lepita . Wing marks can easily distinguish L. laius from L. cinyras and L. lepita . It somewhat resembles L. labdaca , but the apical rectangular mark of the forewing discal cell is separated by less than 1 mm from the triangular mark arising from the wing base.

Key to subspecies of Libythea laius

1. Apical orange mark in forewing discal cell separated from orange mark in cells M 3 and CuA 1 ( Figs. 109, 111 ); mainland Africa................................................................................ Libythea laius laius

– Apical orange mark in forewing discal cell touching orange mark in cells M 3 and CuA 1 ( Figs. 113, 115 , 117 ); southern India, Sri Lanka and Madagascar.............................................................................. 2

2(1). Orange mark in forewing discal cell separated into an apical mark and a proximal triangle ( Fig. 117 ); southern India and Sri Lanka............................................................................ Libythea laius lepitoides

– Orange mark in forewing discal cell fused into a large mark extending from wing base to apical margin of discal cell ( Figs. 113, 115 ); Madagascar.............................................................. Libythea laius tsiandava

Figures

FIGURES 2−13. Lateral view of the male eighth abdominal tergum of Libythea and Libytheana with scales and hairs removed. 2. Libythea celtis; 3. Libythea collenettei; 4. Libythea geoffroyi; 5. Libythea labdaca; 6. Libythea laius; 7. Libythea lepita; 8. Libythea myrrha; 9. Libythea narina; 10. Libytheana carinenta; 11. Libytheana fulvescens; 12. Libytheana motya; 13. Libytheana terena.

FIGURES 101−116. Right dorsal and ventral wing surfaces of Libythea. The second image of each specimen shows the ventral surface of the wings. 101, 102. Libythea geoffroyi howarthi Petersen: Paratype ♂, Solomon Islands, Rennell (BMNH); 103, 104. Libythea labdaca ancoata Grose−Smith: Holotype ♂, Madagascar, Irast (BMNH); 105, 106. Libythea labdaca labdaca Westwood: ♂, Uganda, Mulange (CMNH); 107, 108. Libythea labdaca labdaca Westwood: ♀, Cameroon, Bafia (CMNH); 109, 110. Libythea laius laius Trimen: ♂, Malawi, Cholo (CMNH); 111, 112. Libythea laius laius Trimen: ♀, Malawi, Cholo (CMNH); 113, 114. Libythea laius tsiandava Grose−Smith: Holotype ♂, Madagascar (BMNH); 115, 116. Libythea laius tsiandava Grose−Smith: ♀, Madagascar, Mahabo (BMNH).

FIGURES 117−132. Right dorsal and ventral wing surfaces of Libythea. The second image of each specimen shows the ventral surface of the wings. 117, 118. Libythea laius lepitoides Moore: ♂, India, Nilgiris, Conoor (BMNH); 119, 120. Libythea lepita formosana Fruhstorfer: Holotype ♂, Taiwan (BMNH); 121, 122. Libythea lepita amamiana Shirôzu: ♂, Japan, Okinawa, Nago (MTC); 123, 124. Libythea lepita amamiana Shirôzu: ♀, Japan, Okinawa, Shimajiri, Kitadaito−mura (TFC); 125, 126. Libythea lepita lepita Moore: ♂, Japan, Yamanashi, Hinoharu (AYK); 127, 128. Libythea lepita lepita Moore: ♀, Japan (BMNH); 129, 130. Libythea myrrha myrrha Godart: ♂, Indonesia, Java (BMNH); 131, 132. Libythea myrrha myrrha Godart: ♀, Indonesia, West Java (BMNH).