Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902

Piovesan, Mônica, Casagrande, Mirna Martins & Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik, 2022, Systematics of Opsiphanes Doubleday, [1849] (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Brassolini): an integrative approach, Zootaxa 5216 (1), pp. 1-278 : 209-212

Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest.

( Figs 192–194 , 199–202 )

Papilio cassiae [misidentification]; Fabricius, 1775. Syst. Ent., p. 483 (partim).

Caligo fabricii [misidentification]; Aurivillius, 1882. Kongl. Svenska Akad. Handl. 19 (5): 73.

Opsiphanes cassina merianae Stichel, 1902 . Berl. ent. Ztschr. 46 (4): 518, 524; male, female Northeastern South America, Antilles (?); syn. O. fabricii Aurivillius (not Boisduval)— Stichel, 1904, in Wytsman. Gen. Ins. 20, p. 21, pl. 3, fig. 4 (male d, v).— Stichel, 1909. Das Tierreich 25: 90.— Fruhstorfer, 1912, in Seitz. Gross-Schmett. Erde 5, p. 303.—Kaye, 1914. Trans. ent. Soc. London 1913 (3): 548.— Stichel, 1932. Lep. Cat. 51, p. 47. — Hall, 1939. Agric. Jour. Brit. Guiana 10 (1): 35.—Boos, 1986. Living World 1985-1986: 32.— D’Abrera, 1987. Butt. Neotrop. Reg. 3, p. 412.— Bristow, 1991. Zool. Jour. Linn. Soc. 101 (3): 266, 268, 275, figs 25e (male d, v), 26c (female d, v); LECTOTYPUS.—O. Mielke & Casagrande, 1992. Acta Amaz. 21: 182.—Maes, 1999. Cat. Ins. Art. Terr. Nicaragua 3, p. 1387.—Blandin, 2003, in Lacomme & Manil. Lép. Guyane 1 (2), p. 19.— Casagrande, 2004. Brassolini , in Lamas (ed.) Checklist: Part 4A, Hesperioidea-Papilionoidea, in Heppner (ed.). Atlas Neotrop. Lep. 5A, p. 204; syn.: fabricii ; Aurivillius, 1882 (not Boisduval).— Gernaat et al., 2012. Butt. Suriname, p. 238, 428, 445, pl. 36, figs 1, 2 (male d, v), 3, 4 (female d, v).— Cock, 2020. Living World 2020: 89, figs 1 (male, female d, v), 3 (female v), 5 (larva), 7 (pupa); biol.

Opsiphanes merianae ; Penz et al., 1999. Jour. Lep. Soc. 53 (4): 150; host plant.— Chacón et al., 2012. Bull. Allyn Mus. 166: 3.

Taxonomic history. Stichel (1902) described Opsiphanes cassina merianae for the specimens from Suriname, with a fully developed band inside the DFW discal cell, and later ( Stichel 1904) illustrated the male. Penz et al. (1999) mentioned Opsiphanes merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest. as a species, without an explanation. Chacón et al. (2012) referred to the status of subspecies when mentioning “ O. merianae ” as a species, without an explanation. Gernaat et al. (2012) and Cock (2020) illustrated the male and female.

Type material. Opsiphanes cassina merianae Stichel, 1902 was described based on an unknown number of males and females. Bristow (1991) designated a female as the lectotype, deposited at the NHMUK, with the following labels: / Typus/ Type/ LECTOTYPE / Surinam, Michaelis leg. e. c. H. Stichel/ O. cassina merianae Stich. Type/ Rothschild Bequest B.M. 1939-1./ ( Fig. 202 ).

Diagnosis. Opsiphanes merianae merianae stat. rest. differs from Opsiphanes merianae notanda stat. nov. in the usually irregular oblique band of DFW, discontinuous on CuA 1, this band tends to be wider and slightly curved between Sc and M 3 ( Figs 192–194 ).

Variation. FW, length: male: 35–40 mm (n=8), female: 40–44 mm (n=5). DHW, the width of the submarginal band. VFW, on CuA 2 -2A, close to the discal cell, may or may not have an orange or brown triangular spot; eyespots may be present on CuA 1 -CuA 2 ( Figs 192–194 ).

Natural history. Cock (2020) illustrated the final larval instars and the pupa.

Host plants: Arecaceae : Dypsis lutescens (H. Wendl.) , Adonidia merrillii (Becc.) ( Cock 2020) .

Geographic distribution. Colombia (Meta) ; Trinidad and Tobago (Arima, Sangre Grande, Tunapuna-Piarco, Port of Spain) ; Venezuela (Barinas, Yaracuy, Aragua, Distrito Capital, Vargas, Isla Margarita , Sucre, Bolívar, Monagas) ; Guyana (Wakenaam); Suriname (no data); French Guiana (no data); Brazil (Roraima) ( Fig. 201 ) .

Temporal distribution. Throughout the year.

Etymology. Named in honor of the naturalist Maria Sybilla Merian, whose study (1705, p. 32, pl. 32) was used by Linnaeus to describe Opsiphanes cassiae ( Linnaeus, 1758) .

Specimens examined. Photos of the lectotypus of Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest., and the following specimens: COLOMBIA: Meta —Villavicencio (La Unión), 4º03′43.3N, 73º42′04.6″W, 500 m, 30-IX-2011, 1 female, G. Nielsen leg., DZ 41.605 ( DZUP) . TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: no locality, 1 female, UFFLMNH MGCL 1092857 ( MGCL) , I-1933, 1 male, W. G. Sheldon leg., UFFLMNH MGCL 1107080 ( MGCL); (NW Trinidad) , 45 m, 18-IX-1987, 2 males, T. C. Emmel & C. Odegard leg., UFFLMNH MGCL 1092708, 1092708 ( MGCL) . Arima — Arima Valley , 1-II-1963, 1 female, B. Heineman leg., AMNH_IZC 00352798 ( AMNH) . Sangre Grande — Sans Souci , 2 females, C. Urich leg., UFFLMNH MGCL 1092706, 1092707 ( MGCL) ; Tunapuna-Piarco — Tunapuna , 29-XI-1960, 1 female, UFFLMNH MGCL 1092855 ( MGCL) . Port of Spain —no locality, 1 male, UFFLMNH MGCL 1107078 ( MGCL) , 5-II-1963, 2 males, B. Heineman leg., AMNH_IZC 00352794, 00352795 ( AMNH) , VII-1957, 1 female, V-1958, 1 female, M. Nieves leg., AMNH_IZC 00352796, 00352797 ( AMNH) ; Maraval , VII-1981, 1 male, UFFLMNH MGCL 1107077 ( MGCL) ; St. Ann’s Valley , 1 female, UFFLMNH MGCL 1092856 ( MGCL) , I– III-1932, 1 male, A. Hall leg., UFFLMNH MGCL 1107079 ( MGCL) . VENEZUELA: Barinas — Reserva Forestal Ticoporo , 230 m, 3–10-IV-1966, 1 male, F. Fernández & L. Joly leg., DZ 41.634 ( DZUP) . Yaracuy — La Hoya , 100 m, 28–30-IX-1973, 1 male, Salcedo leg., DZ 41.639 ( DZUP) . Aragua — Maracay , 10- VII-1981, 1 female, Mielke & Casagrande leg., DZ 41.619 ( DZUP) , 18-V-1958, 1 male, Galeano leg., DZ 41.621 ( DZUP) , 25-XII-1963, 1 female, Yépez leg., DZ 41.624 ( DZUP) , 500 m, IX-1987, 1 female, ex-coll. N. Tangerini, DZ 41.620 ( DZUP) , 1,200 m, IX-1969, 1 male, 500 m, IV-1969, 1 female, Tangerini leg., DZ 41.622, 41.623 ( DZUP), (Rancho Grande) , 1,100 m, VIII-1964, 1 male, Yépez leg., DZ 41.629 ( DZUP), (Choroní) , IX-1971, 1 male, DZ 41.617 ( DZUP) , 1,000 m, IX-1971, 1 male, DZ 41.618 ( DZUP) ; El Limón, 5-VI-1958, 1 male, DZ 41.628 ( DZUP) , 31-X-1956, 1 female, 1-I-1978, 1 female, Yépez leg., DZ 41.625, 41.626 ( DZUP) , 8-II-1968, 1 female, Andara leg., DZ 41.627 ( DZUP) . Distrito Capital — Caracas , 1,000 m, 31-I-1965, 1 female, 10-V-1965, 1 male, Parisen leg., ex-coll. H. Ebert, DZ 41.632, 41.633 ( DZUP) ; 18-IX-1938, 1 male, 19-VII-1939, 1 male, 3-XII-1938, 1 female, Ballou leg., USNMENT01590166, 01590169, 01590173 ( USNM), (Altamira) , XII-1971, 1 female, DZ 41.631 ( DZUP), ( La Florida ) , 2-IV-1939, 1 male, Ballou leg., USNMENT01590168 ( USNM), (Campo Alegre School Las Mercedes urbanización) , 5-XI-1959, 1 female, B. Preston leg., UFFLMNH MGCL 1092859 ( MGCL) , 19-IV-1959, 1 female, 19-V-1959, 1 male, J. & F. Preston leg., UFFLMNH MGCL 1092860, 1107081 ( MGCL) , 800 m, 10-VIII-1959, 1 male, M. & C. Aristeguieta leg., UFFLMNH MGCL 1107082 ( MGCL) . Vargas — Macuto , 27-III-1982, 1 female, G. F. & J. F. Hevel leg., USNMENT01590174 ( USNM) . Isla Margarita — no locality , 17–23-XI-1985, 1 male, L. & C. Harris leg., UFFLMNH MGCL 1107083 ( MGCL) ; Porlamar, 10º57′N, 63º50′W, 13–18-III-1988, 1 male, R. Robbins leg., USNMENT01590165 ( USNM) . Sucre — Cumaná (6 km S) , 3-V-1980, 1 male, J. O. Sullivan leg., USNMENT01590164 ( USNM) . Monagas — Jusepín , 28-X-1965, 1 male, 6-VIII-1966, 1 male, 28-IX-1965, 1 male, Fernández & Rosales leg., DZ 41.636 –41.638 ( DZUP) ; Bolívar (Caripito) , 7-IV-1942, 1 male, AMNH_IZC 00352800 ( AMNH) . Bolívar — Kanarakuni (Alto Caura) , 16–18-X-1964, 1 male, Lichy & Pérez leg., DZ 41.635 ( DZUP) . GUYANA: no data, 16-V-1980, 1 female, G. Nazaret leg., DZ 41.642 ( DZUP) . Wakenaam —no locality , 1 female, 2 males, J. Waterfield leg., AMNH_IZC 00352791–00352793 ( AMNH) . FRENCH GUIANA: no data, XII-2010, 1 female, 10-XI-2012, 1 female, M. Benmesbah leg., DZ 41.640, 41.641 ( DZUP) . BRAZIL: Roraima — Alto Alegre , 23–28-II-1988, 1 male, Mielke & Casagrande leg., DZ 41.700 ( DZUP) .

Figures

FIGURE 192. Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest.: Male, dorsal and ventral views: Trinidad and Tobago: a. (FLMNH MGCL 1107078-MGCL); Venezuela: b. (FLMNH MGCL 1107083-MGCL) Isla Margarita, c. (DZ 41.636-DZUP), d. (DZ 41.638-DZUP) Monagas, e. (DZ 41.629-DZUP), f. (DZ 41.628-DZUP) Aragua. White arrows indicate diagnostic characters of the species.

FIGURE 193. Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest.: Male, dorsal and ventral views: Venezuela: a. (US- NMENT01590165-USNM) Isla Margarita; Guyana: b. (AMNH_IZC 00352792-AMNH). Female, dorsal and ventral views: Trinidad and Tobago: c. (FLMNH MGCL 1092707-MGCL), d. (FLMNH MGCL 1092706-MGCL). White arrows indicate diagnostic characters of the species.

FIGURE 194. Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest.: Female, dorsal and ventral views: a. Guyana: (AMNH_ IZC 00352791-AMNH); b. Colombia: (DZ 41.605-DZUP; CMBUT1295-19) Meta.

FIGURE 199. Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest.: Male: a. abdomen, lateral view, b. detail of the scent organ, lateral view; genitalia: c. dorsal view, d. ventral view, e. lateral view; aedeagus: f. dorsal view, g. ventral view, h. lateral view (DZ 41.621-DZUP).

FIGURE 200. Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest.: Female genitalia: a. lateral view; b. detail of the signa; c. ventral view (DZ 41.641-DZUP).

FIGURE 201. Geographical distribution of Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest. and Opsiphanes merianae notanda Stichel, 1904 stat. nov.

FIGURE 202. Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest. Lectotype of Opsiphanes merianae merianae Stichel, 1902 stat. rest.; a. dorsal view, b. ventral view.