Prometheus zagraea zagraea (R. Felder, 1874)

García-Díaz, José De Jesús, Espinoza-Sanabria, Bernardo A., Worthy, Robert, González, Jorge M., Janzen, Daniel H. & Hallwachs, Winnie, 2024, Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Costa Rica, Zootaxa 5481 (2), pp. 151-202 : 178

15. Prometheus zagraea zagraea (R. Felder, 1874)

( Figs. 8A, 8B , 10C , 12F ) (BIN: BOLD:AAE6534)

Castnia zagraea Felder, 1874 ; R. Felder, 1874. Reise Fregatte Novara, Bd 2 (Abth. 2) (4), p. 3, pl. 79, fig. 2.

Gazera columbina Boisduval, [1875] ; Boisduval, [1875]. Spec. Gén. des Lép. Hét. Tome 1: Sphin., Sesi., Cast., p. 546. Castnia cycna Westwood, 1877 ; Westwood, 1877. Trans. Linn. Soc. Lon., Zoo. 2 (1), p. 191, pl. 32, fig. 2.

Castnia cycna var. minor ; Westwood, 1877. Trans. Linn. Soc. Lon., Zoo. 2 (1), p. 191.

Doubldaya [sic] zagraeus ; Buchecker, [1899], Syst. Ent., Sist. Insect. Class., Gen., Spec.: Pars 6, pl. 23, fig. 28.

Gazera zagraeoides ; Houlbert, 1918. Étud. Lép. Comp. 15, pp. 66, 630, 703, fig. 225, pl. CDLXI, fig. 3844.

Zegara cycna ; Miller, 1995, in Heppner. Castnioidea: Castniidae : Castniinae , Checklist part 2, Atlas Neo. Lep., p. 137. Zegara zagraea zagraea ; Lamas, 1995. Revta. Per. Ent. 37, p. 85.

Prometheus zagraea ; Moraes & Duarte, 2014. Zoo. Jour. Linn. Soc. 170 (2), p. 32.

General comments. According to Lamas (1995), Prometheus (Zegara) zagraea zagraea (R. Felder, 1874) was described from Panama. This species is a member of a mimetic ring that includes various species of Heliconiinae and Danainae ( Nymphalidae ) that exhibit a “tiger pattern” ( Miller 1986; González et al. 2010). The wing shape in both sexes is similar to that of Lycorea halia (Hübner, 1816) . Males are smaller than females, wings are not as wide, and overall coloration is darker than females.

Prometheus zagraea is polymorphic, which favored the description of various taxa, resulting in records from Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama under different species or subspecies names (i.e. carilla , columbina , panamensis , salvina , zagraea ). Consequently, doubts about the validity of some of those names were raised, as well as the taxonomic status of the different populations found between Nicaragua and Colombia, and their respective distribution. A thorough review of this complex of species today dumped in the genus Prometheus (which we consider incorrect) is needed to clarify their taxonomic status and distribution limits.

Ecology and behavior. Adults are diurnal and fly on sunny days. Miller (1986) pointed out that females of this species have been sighted in Costa Rica laying eggs on the terrestrial bromeliad Aechmea magdalenae (André)André ex Baker, 1889 ( Bromeliaceae ) ( Vinciguerra 2008; González et al. 2010, 2017; Van den Berghe et al. 2020).

Distribution and biogeography. According to the bibliography and the specimens studied for the present study, P. z. zagraea is known from Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia ( Miller 1986, 1995; Lamas 1995; Vinciguerra 2008; González et al. 2010, 2017). In Costa Rica, this subspecies has been recorded in the following cantons: Cartago: Turrialba; Guanacaste: La Cruz; Puntarenas: Golfito, Osa; San José: Mora. Based on the biogeographic provinces of the Neotropical region proposed by Morrone et al. (2022), in Costa Rica P. z. zagraea has been recorded in localities that belong to the Guatuso-Talamanca and Puntarenas-Chiriquí provinces of the Pacific dominion, and the Pacific Lowlands province of the Mesoamerican dominion, all in the Brazilian subregion.

Figures

FIGURE 8. A–B: Prometheus zagraea zagraea; A: ♂, Estación Santa Rosa, Prov. Guanacaste, 300m, Junio 1995, D. H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs, 313000, 359800, INBIOCRI002427675, MNCR-A2427675 (MNCR); B: ♀, Puntarenas, P. Nal. Corcovado, Est. Cirena, 13-V-86, R Canet, INBIOCRI001056100, MNCR-A1056100 (MNCR); C–D: Prometheus zagraea salvina; C: ♂, Estac. Pitilla, 700m, 9km S. Santa Cecilia, Guanac. Prov., Mar1989, GNP Biodiversity Survey, W 85 25 40, N 10 59 26, INBIOCRI001056099, MNCR-A1056099 (MNCR); D: ♀, Estac. Pitilla, 700m, 9km S Santa Cecilia, Guanacaste, Mar 1990, P. Ríos & R. Blanco, 330200, 380200, INBIOCRI00091782, MNCR-A191782 (MNCR). Scale bar = 2cm.

FIGURE 10. A–B: Amauta procera; A: ♀, Golfito, Puntarenas, 19-II-2002 (photo: Gernot Kunz); B: ♂, Sarapiquí, Heredia, 06-III-2014 (photo: Matthew Grube); C: ♀, Prometheus zagraea zagraea, Osa, Puntarenas, 02-III-2012 (photo: GringoCurt); D–E: Divana diva diva; D: ♂, Puntarenas, Puntarenas, 27-V-2018 (photo: David Curlis); E: ♀, San Ramón, Alajuela, 27-V- 2010 (photo: John B. Schneider); F–G: Athis palatinus staudingeri; F: ♀, Golfito, Puntarenas, 08-II-2021 (photo: Chatelle Taylor); G: ♂, Aguirre, Puntarenas, 16-I-2020 (photo: Ted Armstrong); H: ♂, Athis analibiae, Talamanca, Limón, 09-V-2023 (photo: Heiner Ziegler); I: ♀, Athis clitarcha, Coto Brus, Puntarenas, 14-III-2020 (photo: Casey Owen); J: ♂, Athis inca inca, Sarapiquí, Heredia, 26-X-2018 (photo: Laurens Halsey).

FIGURE 12. Distribution maps of the genera Amauta (A), Athis (B, C), Corybantes and Mirocastnia (D), Divana (E) and Prometheus (F) in Costa Rica.