Aricia Reichenbach

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 : 228

Genus Aricia Reichenbach

( Fig. 20 and 21 A, B)

The annular zone of the species from this genus is small and formed by cells of smooth surface, only occasionally bearing small ridges in Aricia nicias (Meigen) ( Fig. 20 A, B) and A. cramera (Eschscholtz) ( Fig. 20 E, F). This contrasts with the transition zone in which the surface of the cells is porous and the cell walls have a rough texture. Cells in this zone are organized in a regular spiral pattern that is more evident in Aricia montensis Verity ( Fig. 21 A, B). In A. nicias the tubercle-aeropyle area has well developed ridged tubercles and cells with three or four sides, which adjoin together in groups of five to seven. The size of the tubercles is large in A. nicias , intermediate in A. montensis and short in A. cramera and A. morronensis (Ribbe) (20C, D). In the latter species this trait is variable in the different areas and tubercles can be larger than in the pictured specimen (see Munguira & Martín 1988; Munguira 1989). Tubercles are also crowned with aeropyles at their tips in all the species of the genus. A. cramera also differs from the eggs of the other species by the higher number of cells, making it quite similar to the egg of A. agestis , while that of A. montensis resembles A. artaxerxes (Fabricius) . The egg of A. agestis and A. artaxerxes has been described in detail by Smyllie (2001).

Figures

FIGURE 20. Scanning electron microscope photographs of a general view of the egg and the detail of the annular zone of the eggs of Aricia nicias (A, B), A. morronensis (C, D), and A. cramera (E, F). Scale bars 200 (A, C, E), 10 (B), and 20 Μm (D, F).

FIGURE 21. Scanning electron microscope photographs of a general view of the egg and the detail of the annular zone of the eggs of Aricia montensis (A, B), Eumedonia eumedon (C, D), and Kretania hesperica (E, F). Scale bars 200 (A), 300 (C E), 20 (B, F), and 50 Μm (D).