Scolitantides Hübner

Munguira, Miguel L., Martín, José, García-Barros, Enrique, Shahbazian, Gayaneh & Cancela, Juan Pablo, 2015, Morphology and morphometry of Lycaenid eggs (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), Zootaxa 3937 (2), pp. 201-247 : 216

Genus Scolitantides Hübner

( Fig. 11 )

The three species of the genus show two very differnt egg morphology patterns which could be held as an argument for splitting this taxon into two distinct genera. Scolitantides orion (Pallas) ( Fig. 11 A, B) has a depressed annular zone and a transition zone whose cells are radial, elongated and with very thick walls. The tubercle-aeropyle zone has equatorially orientated cells with walls equally thick and without tubercles, giving the chorion a robust appearance. S. panoptes (Hübner) ( Fig. 11 C, D) shows an extremely reduced micropylar area, with two or three series of cells and a transition zone formed from very small, triangular or quadrangular cells. The tubercle-aeropyle zone shows a high number of short tubercles. In S. abencerragus (Pierret) ( Fig. 11 E, F) the transition zone is mainly occupied by rhomboidal cells that adjoin the annular area to form a star like pattern. The tubercles are prominent and fewer than in S. panoptes (40 on the equator versus 60 in the former species).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Scanning electron microscope photographs of a general view of the egg and the detail of the annular zone of the eggs of Scolitantides orion (A, B), S. panoptes (C, D), and S. abencerragus (E, F). Scale bars 200 (A, C, E) and 20 Μm (B, D, F).