Polycaena chauchowensis ( Mell, 1923 )

Huang, Si-Yao, Inayoshi, Yutaka, Léger, Théo & Espeland, Marianne, 2024, The riodinid taxa described by Rudolf Emil Mell (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea, Riodinidae), with notes on related ones, Zootaxa 5481 (5), pp. 591-599 : 594-597

Polycaena chauchowensis ( Mell, 1923)

Figs. 11–18 , 28 , 32, 33

Hipporion chauchowensis Mell, 1923: 159 . TL: Bergwaldgebiete bei Chauchow in Westjünnan um 2600 m Seehöhe (area around Fengyi town (= Zhaozhou = Chauchow), Dali City, west Yunnan Province, southwest China).

Polycaena chauchowensis (Mell) : Forster 1951: 62, pl. 4, fig. 5; D’Abrera 1993: 392; Bridges 1994: 102; Chou 1994: 603; Chou 1998: 178; Chou 1999: 303; Huang & Li 2016: figs. 27–32, 82; Wang in Wu & Hsu 2017: 1019; Yu et al. 2022: supplementary file.

Polycaena chauchowensis pallidior Forster 1951: 62 , pl. 4, figs. 1, 2. syn. nov.

Type material examined. Lectotype (here designated) (fig. 11): male, printed red label “Type”/ yellow handwritten label “Tali | (y) [Yunnan] | v. s. H. | 5. IX. (19)14” / printed institutional label with QR-code “ MfN URI | http:// coll.mfn-berlin.de/u/09c810” ( MfN). Holotype of Polycaena chauchowensis pallidior (fig. 12): male, printed and handwritten red label “Holo-Typus ♂ | Polycaena | chauchowensis | ssp. pallidior Forst. | W. Forster München”/ yellow handwritten label “ Polycaena ♂ | chauchowensis | Mell | deter. W. Forster 1949” / yellow printed label “Li-kiang. (China) | Provinz Nord-Yuennan. | 1.9 1935.H.Höne.” / printed institutional label “ ZFMK | Lep100613” ( ZFMK). Paratypes of Polycaena chauchowensis pallidior (fig.): 1 male, printed and handwritten red label “Para-Typus ♂ | Polycaena | chauchowensis | pallidior Forster | W. Forster München”/ yellow printed label “Li-kiang. (China) | Provinz Nord-Yuennan. | 4.9 1935.H.Höne.” / printed institutional label “ ZFMK | Lep100616” ( ZFMK); 1 male, printed and handwritten red label “Para-Typus ♂ | Polycaena | chauchowensis | pallidior Forster | W. Forster München”/ yellow printed label “Li-kiang. (China) | Provinz Nord-Yuennan. | 4.9 1935.H.Höne.” / printed institutional label “ ZFMK | Lep100617” ( ZFMK); 1 male, printed and handwritten red label “Para-Typus ♂ | Polycaena | chauchowensis | pallidior Forster |W.Forster München”/yellow printed label “Li-kiang.(China) |Provinz Nord-Yuennan. | 4.9 1935.H.Höne.” / printed institutional label “ ZFMK | Lep100618” ( ZFMK); 1 male, printed and handwritten red label “Para-Typus ♂ | Polycaena | chauchowensis | pallidior Forster | W. Forster München”/ yellow printed label “Li-kiang. (China) | Provinz Nord-Yuennan. | 11.9 1935.H.Höne.” / printed institutional label “ ZFMK | Lep100619” ( ZFMK). Additional material examined: CHINA: 1 male, Li-kiang. (China), Provinz Nord-Yuennan, 30.8 1935.H. Höne., ZFMK Lep 100628 ( ZFMK); 1 male , Li-kiang. ( China), Provinz Nord-Yuennan , 1.9 1934. H.Höne., ZFMK Lep 100629 ( ZFMK); 1 male , ditto, ZFMK Lep 100630 ( ZFMK); 1 male, 17.VIII.2019 , alt. 3000 m, Gezan, Shangari-La (Zhongdian) City , Yunnan Province, leg. Zi-hao Liu ( CHSY); 1 male , ditto ( CLZH) .

Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes. (1) In the original description, Mell (1923) did not mention the number of the specimens nor designate a holotype for this taxon, therefore all the specimens found in the Mell’s drawer and bearing the original handwritten labels from Mell in the collection of MfN are syntypes. In order to stabilize the nomenclature we hereby designate the male with the red “Type” label as the lectotype of Hipporion chauchowensis Mell, 1923 . The adult and male genitalia of the lectotype are illustrated herein. (2) The subspecies pallidior Forster, 1951, described from Nord Yünnan, Likiang [=North Yunnan, Lijiang], although stated by Forster (1951) as differing from the nominate subspecies from Tali [=Dali] by the much lighter, sharper defined and clearer discal spots and slightly larger size, is treated as a new synonym of Polycaena chauchowensis (Mell) hereinfor the following reasons: First, the morphological differences between the two subspecies mentioned by Forster (1951) are not constant, as shown in the plate. The color of the discal spots of the paratypes of pallidior from the same area can vary from bright yellow (fig. 13a) to ochreous yellow (figs. 14a & 16a), and intermediate individuals can be found (e.g. fig. 12). In fact, even the holotype of P. chauchowensis pallidior is somewhat intermediate regarding this character, and not distinctly differing from the LT of P. chauchowensis . As for the size, some small individuals (e.g. fig. 15) can be found among the Lijiang population, and the individuals of the type series of P. chauchowensis pallidior are almost of the same size as the LT of P. chauchowensis , therefore both morphological characters cannot be used to distinguish pallidior from the nominate subspecies. Second, during our field survey we found that the populations from Gezan (fig. 18) and Pudacuo (fig. 32), Diqing, in northwest of Lijiang, are of similar size and have almost brownish-red discal spots similar to the nominate subspecies, suggesting that the distribution of pallidior falls within the larger distribution range of the nominate subspecies from Dali to Diqing, and that this subspecies is not geographically isolated from the nominate one. In conclusion, no evidence can support the subdivision of different populations of P. chauchowensis and P. chauchowensis pallidior is synonymized with P. chauchowensis (syn. nov.).

Distribution. Southwestern China (comfined to northern and northwestern Yunnan) (fig. 29).

Biology. This species can be found flying actively during the daytime in high altitude meadows (figs 32, 33).

Figures

FIGURES 11–18. Polycaena chauchowensis adult males. 11, LT, Dali, N Yunnan, China (MfN); 12, HT of P. chauchowensis pallidior, Lijiang, N Yunnan, China, ZFMK Lep100613 (ZFMK); 13, PT of P. chauchowensis pallidior, Lijiang, N Yunnan, China, ZFMK Lep100616 (ZFMK); 14, PT of P. chauchowensis pallidior, Lijiang, N Yunnan, China, ZFMK Lep100618 (ZFMK); 15, Lijiang, N Yunnan, China, ZFMK Lep100629 (ZFMK); 16, ditto, ZFMK Lep100630 (ZFMK); 17, ditto, ZFMK Lep100628 (ZFMK); 18, Gezan, Diqin, N Yunnan, China (CHSY). a=upperside; b=underside; c=labels.

FIGURES 26–28. Male genitalia of riodinid taxa. 26, Abisara sobrina, CM1 (CYI); 27, ditto, CM2 (CYI); 28, Polycaena chauchowensis, LT (MfN). Scale for fig. 28.

FIGURES 29–33. Distribution map and living adults of the riodinid taxa in the study. 29, distribution map of Abisara sobrina and Polycaena chauchowensis, the records of A. sobrina from Laos and Vietnam were taken from the website of Butterflies in Indo-China; 30, Abisara sobrina, Baotaishan, W Yunnan, China, photographed by Si-yao Huang, upperside; 31, ditto, underside; 32, Polycaena chauchowensis, Pudacuo, N Yunnan, China, photographed by Zi-hao Liu, upperside; 33, ditto, underside.