Aporia procris huangsiyaoi, Li, 2024

Li, Hua-Zhao, 2024, A new subspecies of Aporia procris Leech, 1890 hidden in Sichuan, China (Lepidoptera, Pieridae), Zootaxa 5418 (2), pp. 193-200 : 197-198

Aporia procris huangsiyaoi ssp. nov. (Chinese name: DZỪẰNJOiŵ川亚ª)

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CA306490-F00D-4BC5-8FDE-C4B7E017BF4A

( Figs. 1–3 for adults, 4 for genitalia, 6 for phylogeny)

Aporia procris yaozhui Huang, 2021: 342 for two ♂ from N. Jinchuan, PTs of yaozhui + 369, fig. 65 for ♂ + 367, figs. ap14 for ♂ genitalia.

Holotype: ♂, Bayigou , Zhenglitang , Dusong , Jinchuan, Aba, Sichuan, China, ca. 2400 m, 27.V.2023, H.Z. Li leg. (will be deposited to CMNH) . Paratypes: 6 ♂♂, collection data same as the holotype ( CHZL) ; 1 ♂, Suomo , Barkam, Aba, Sichuan, China, 8.VII.2023, H.X. Zhang leg. ( CHZL) .

Description. Male. ( Fig. 1 ) Antenna black with white tip. Upperside ground color white, sometimes tinged with pale yellow. Venation upperside black, tending to broaden at end in forewing but poorly developed in basal areas of hindwing. Forewing upperside discocellular bar wide with a series of postdiscal black streaks present in spaces 2–7 but out of line at vein 4. Forewing underside generally similar to upperside but with all black markings less prominent and apex yellower. Hindwing upperside with fuzzy sagittate streaks in postdiscal areas, while streaks and black veins conspicuous on underside with ground color yellower. Genitalia. ( Fig. 4 ) Vinculum slender. Saccus about half length of vinculum, short and robust. Tegumen and uncus broad at base with terminal part somewhat gradually narrowed into a point. Valva more or less triangular with a fovea in the middle basal region. Juxta and transtilla lamellar, posteriorly V-shaped and Y-shaped respectively. Phallus curved with a protruded trochanter.

Diagnosis. This new subspecies can be distinguished from all six subspecies of A. procris by the combination of the following characteristics ( Fig. 2 ):

1. Sagittate markings on the hindwing underside are less developed, but not obscure as in ssp. nyanchuensis , whereas the markings are more elongated and closer to the termen in other subspecies.

2. Veins on the hindwing underside are less dusted, while the veins are heavily covered with black scales in other subspecies except ssp. yaozhui .

3. Background on the hindwing underside is unicolorous, similar to that of ssp. procris and ssp. sinensis , whereas the coloration is more or less not uniformly distributed in other subspecies.

Variation. Ground color on the hindwing underside varies from sulfur yellow to pale yellow ( Fig. 1 ).

Distribution. Currently only known from Jinchuan and Barkam (W. Sichuan, China).

Etymology. The subspecific name is dedicated to Mr. Si-Yao Huang, who frequently offers the author taxonomic help.

Phenology. Univoltine in May–July.

Ecology. In Jinchuan, this butterfly can be encountered in puddling posture around sandy moist spots on the banks of forest streams at ca. 2400m, mixed with A. goutellei (Oberthür, 1886) , A. bernardi Koiwaya, 1989 , Pieris venata Leech, 1891 , P. davidis Oberthür, 1876 , and P. stotzneri (Draeseke, 1924) . It is noteworthy that this butterfly disappears at higher elevations (alt.> 2900m) where P. dubernardi Oberthür, 1884 is found, sympatric with other pierid species mentioned above.

Remarks. Both the photos provided by Ding (2017) and its locality from Shaanxi verify that the gene sequences of an “ A. procris ” enumerated in Ding & Zhang (2017), which bears a significant genetic distance from other A. procris , av. 7.18%, is definitely a misidentification of A. tsinglingica (Verity, [1911]) ( Fig. 6 ). This issue probably comes from the first version of a well-known monograph edited by Chou (1994), where a pair of A. tsinglingica was misidentified as A. procris . Although Chou noted his misidentification and corrected it in his later works ( Chou 1998; 2000), some authors, such as Shang & Tian (2017), still followed the misleading opinion in Chou’s early work.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of Aporia procris from Sichuan, China.A: ssp. huangsiyaoi nov. from the upper Dadu River; BK1, ♂, Barkam, Aba; JC1–3, ♂♂, Jinchuan, Aba. B: ssp. procris from adjacent areas; SGN1, ♂, Mt. Siguniang, Aba; YL1–3, ♂♂, Mt. Yala, Ganzi.

FIGURE 2. Diagnoses of Aporia procris huangsiyaoi ssp. nov. and two related subspecies.

FIGURE 3. Photographs of Aporia procris huangsiyaoi ssp. nov. in nature, puddling with other congeners.

FIGURE 4. Male genitalia of Aporia procris huangsiyaoi ssp. nov. la = lateral view, ds = dorsal view, po = posterior view.

FIGURE 6. Phylogenetic tree of the genus Aporia inferred from ML analysis of Cytb with bootstrap support values (SH-aLRT support/ultrafast bootstrap support). A misidentification is marked with an asterisk (see text remarks for more information).