Speyeria, SCUDDER, 1872

Dunford, James C., 2009, Taxonomic overview of the greater fritillary genus Speyeria Scudder and the atlantis - hesperis species complexes, with species accounts, type images, and relevant literature (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Insecta Mundi 2009 (90), pp. 1-74 : 7

SPEYERIA SCUDDER, 1872

Argynnis Fabricius, 1807 : ix. Genotype: Papilio paphia Linnaeus, 1758: 481 . [Some authors considered

Speyeria as a subgenus of Argynnis , see Taxonomic Relationships.] Speyeria Scudder, 1872: 23 . Genotype: Papilio Nymphalis Phaleratus Idalia Drury, 1773: 1 . Semnopsyche Scudder, 1875: 258 . Genotype: Papilio Nymphalis Phaleratus Diana Cramer, 1777: 4 , 148.

[Treated as a subgenus of Speyeria by dos Passos and Grey 1947.] Neoacidalia Reuss, 1926a: 69 . Genotype: Papilio cybele Cramer, 1775 [sic, attribution error].

The type species for Speyeria Scudder, 1872 , Papilio idalia Drury, 1773 , is described in the three volume monograph entitled: Illustrations of natural history, wherein are exhibited upwards of two hundred and forty figures of exotic insects, according to their different genera by D. Drury. The original description contains three hand colored illustrations and a fairly brief description of ‘Idalia’ ( Figure 2 ). Speyeria idalia was described from individuals taken in New York on 28 June, with no further locality information. The original designation of Speyeria was monotypic, containing only S. idalia . Drury’s description has been a source of potential error in that specimens used for the description are presumed lost. Because the type specimen was apparently lost since the time of Drury’s description, dos Passos and Grey (1947) designated a neotype based on a male specimen labeled ‘No. 1349 Coll. J. Angus, West Farms, New York City’ housed at the American Museum of Natural History.

Figures

Figure 2. Original description and colored illustrations for ‘Idalia’ reproduced from Drury 1773.