Phoenicurusia transcaucasicus flamma Naderi, Krupitsky, ten Hagen, Lukhtanov & Nazari, 2024

Krupitsky, Anatoly V., Naderi, Alireza, Hagen, Wolfgang Ten, Lukhtanov, Vladimir A. & Nazari, Vazrick, 2024, New data on distribution of Phoenicurusia transcaucasicus (Miller, 1923) (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) with description of a new subspecies from Iran, Zootaxa 5481 (3), pp. 373-383 : 375-382

Phoenicurusia transcaucasicus flamma Naderi, Krupitsky, ten Hagen, Lukhtanov & Nazari , ssp. nov.

Material.

Holotype: ♂, Iran, Esfahan Prov., 20 km E Abyaneh, 33°36‘46“N 51°41‘46“E, 1800–2000 m, 27–29. V.2014, leg. A.R. Naderi (MMTT).

Paratypes (21 ♂, 13 ♀): Esfahan Prov.: 1♂, same data as holotype, leg. et coll. A.R. Naderi; 2♀, vouchers VNMB 942-21 and VNMB 943-21, same data as holotype, leg. et coll.A.R. Naderi; 2♀, 25 km E Daran, 32°55’15.6”N 50°39’54.0”E, 2400 m, 27. VI.2008, leg. et coll. A.R. Naderi; 1♀, voucher VNMB 941-21, same data, leg. et coll. A.R. Naderi; 1♂, Kashan, Qamsar, 5 km E Jevinan, 33°40’58.8”N 51°22’44.4”E, 2200 m, 19. VI.2001, leg. et coll. W. ten Hagen; 1♀, voucher VNMB 1138-21, same label, leg. et coll. W. ten Hagen; 1 ♂, Kuh-e Karkas Mts., NW Natanz, E Abyaneh vill., 33°35‘45.6“N 51°35‘52.8“E, 1700–2050 m, 21. V.2008, leg. et coll. W. ten Hagen; 1 ♂, voucher VNMB 1144-21, same label, leg. et coll. W. ten Hagen; 1♀, same locality, 1800 m, 31. V.2005, leg. et coll. W. ten Hagen.

Mazandaran Prov.: 1 ♂, Alborz Mts., Baladeh vill., 36°12‘03.6“N 51°48‘28.8“E, 2400 m, 13–15.VII.2006, leg. Hácz, coll. W. ten Hagen; 1 ♂, same data, voucher VNMB 1129-21, leg. Hácz, coll. W. ten Hagen; 1 ♂, same locality, 11.VII.2009, leg. Hácz, coll. W. ten Hagen; 3♂, 3♀, Alborz Mts., 2 km W Takor, 36°12’01”N 51°59’11”E, 1850 m, 17.VII.1997, leg. et coll. W. ten Hagen.

Semnan Prov.: 1♂, voucher VNMB 1130-21, Kuh-e Shavar Mts., 3 km E Tash vill., 36°33’28.8”N 54°43’01.2”E, 2300–2500 m, 04.VIII.2003, leg. et coll. W. ten Hagen; 4♂, 2♀, same data; 1♂, 1♀, Kuh-e Shavar Mts., Tasch village, 36°32’34” N 54°41’11”E, 2000 m, 04. VI.2000, leg. et coll. A.R. Naderi; 1♂, Ahowan pass, 35°45’53”N 53°42’52”E, 1800–2000 m, 30. V.2001, leg. et coll. A.R. Naderi; 1♂, 70 km to Damghan from Semnan, 35°42’18”N 53°37’18”E, 1600 m, 17. V.2000, leg. et coll.A.R. Naderi; 2 ♂, vouchers LYC025, LYC026, Sefid-Kuh Mts., Chashm vill., 35°48’59”N 53°14’46”E, 2200 m, 05-06.VII.2010, K. Kolesnichenko leg., coll. A. Krupitsky.

Alborz Prov.: 1♂, 30 km SW Karaj, S Jaru, 35°40’50.7”N 50°31’54.9”E, 1400 m, 20. V.2000, leg. et coll. A.R. Naderi.

Description

Male (Figs 1,2,14). Head white, frons black with white hairs. Second palpomere white inside, black outside, third palpomere black. Antenna black, white-ringed with black club. Thorax and abdomen dark-brown dorsally, white ventrally. Legs white.

Forewing length 13 mm. Dorsal side of wings rusty-brown. Forewing with violaceous suffusion extending from base to postdiscal region, dark-brown spot at discoidal vein, and several brown submarginal spots; veins brown. Hindwing rounded, with long tail and well-developed anal lobe; violaceous field extending from base to discal region and slotted with brown veins, submarginal pattern well-developed, consisted of dark brown lunules surrounded by orange pattern, more intensively developed towards anal lobe, tails orange. Fringe on both wings blackish inside, whitish outside.

Ventral side of wings contrasted, beige with blueish basal suffusion and orange scales along veins, and well-developed pattern of large rounded or elongated black spots surrounded with white scales with admixture of orange scales; postdiscal pattern of both wings consisting of whitish strokes; submarginal orange pattern well-developed on both wings, broad and intensive, broader on forewing; inner margin of orange band with strong black suffusion; submarginal black spots well-developed, especially in middle zone, surrounded by white scales, on forewing only internally; outer margin of both wings dark with admixture of orange scales. Fringe consisting of brownish-grey hairs with admixture of white hairs and dark hairs near veins.

Male genitalia ( Figs 7–11 ). Uncus well-developed, prominent, broadened towards apex; falx long, stout, pointed, with tip curved upwards; saccus short, stout, triangular; lobe of juxta large, rectangular, with sloped top; valva long, thin laterally at middle, with extended distal part, broadly rounded apex and large inner projection; aedeagus long, crescent, gradually pointed to tip, with small pointed cornutus.

Female ( Figs 3, 4 ) Forewing length: 15 mm. Similar to male but with a well-developed submariginal orange band on the dorsal side of both wings, much wider on the forewings and extending into the postdiscal area in the form of a flame-like orange shadow reaching space S5 to a very large and distinct black discal spot.

Individual variation. The size and spots arrangement especially on the ventral side are slightly variable. An interesting individual form can be seen in one female from Qamsar which shows exaggerated large black spots on the underside of both wings that almost merge together.

Diagnosis. The new subspecies differs from the nominotypical one ( Fig. 5, 6 ) in the well-developed orange pattern. The males are smaller than the nominotypical transcaucasicus . The spots on the ventral side of the wings are much more rounded and well characterized. Additionally, compared to the neotype of Ph. transcaucasicus ( Fig. 12, 13 ), valva in the male genitalia of the new subspecies is somewhat thinner and longer.

This subspecies occurs sympatrically with two other species of the genus Phoenicurusia , Ph. phoenicurus ( Fig. 15 ) and Ph. balucha athamantides ( Fig. 16 ). From Ph. phoenicurus it can be distinguished by the absence of red lunules on the forewings of males and by the position of three anterior postdiscal ocelli on the ventral side of the forewings. These three ocelli in Ph. transcaucasicus flamma form a straight line, while in P. phoenicurus the first ocellus is shifted inward. From Ph. balucha it can be distinguished by having only one basal spot on ventral side of forewing (two in balucha ).

Molecular characterization. Ph. transcaucasicus flamma differs from the nominotypical subspecies by three fixed substitutions at positions 81 (C̊T), 555 (G̊T) and 639 (C̊T) of the DNA barcode region. Three haplotypes were revealed ( Fig. 17 ): H1, comprising specimens from Mazandaran and Semnan, H2, comprising two specimens from Esfahan Prov. and differing from H1 by one nucleotide substitution, and H3 (two specimens from Esfahan), differing from H2 by four substitutions. Belonging of the analyzed specimens to a certain haplotype is summarized in the Table 1 .

Interestingly, a remote haplotype was revealed in a specimen of Ph. transcaucasicus from Kerman Province, Kuhpayeh (voucher VNMB1137-21). This population needs further exploration based on more samples from the location.

Etymology. The name of the new taxon refers to the flame-like orange pattern on the dorsal side of the forewings of the females.

Distribution and bionomics. The new subspecies is so far found in Esfahan, Alborz, Mazandaran and Semnan provinces in Iran ( Fig. 18 ). Butterflies inhabit xerophytic rocky mountain slopes ( Figs 19–22 ). In the mountains of Esfahan Province in Central Iran, it flies from May–June at altitudes between 1800 and 2400 m a.s.l. However, in the northern provinces, the flight period extends to August at higher altitudes (2300–2500 m). The adults fly very fast around their nectar plants and usually can be observed when nectaring on flowering Acanthophyllum bushes together with other lycaenid species (e.g., Satyrium persepolis and Cigaritis ottostaudingeri ). Based on our field observations, Atraphaxis spinosa L. is a most probable host plant of the new subspecies.

Figures

FIGURE 17. Result of the statistical parsimony network analysis illustrating relationships of 11 COI sequencesof Phoenicurusia transcaucasicus. Colours of circles correspond to origin of samples.

FIGURE 18. Distribution of Phoenicurusia transcaucasicus based on examined specimens and published data (Hesselbarth et al. 1995; Tshikolovets & Nekrutenko 2012; Tshikolovets et al. 2014; Krupitsky 2017). Red, nominotypical subspecies; orange, Ph. t. flamma ssp. n.; yellow, Ph. t. ssp. Squares refer to type localities. 1—Armenia, 2—Azerbaijan.

FIGURES 7–13. Male genitalia of Phoenicurusia transcaucasicus. 7—paratype, voucher VNBM1144-21, lateral view; 8— paratype, voucher LYC025, lateral view; 9—id., labides and falces, ventral view; 10—id., aedeagus, lateral view; 11—valvae with juxta, inner view; 12— Ph. t. transcaucasicus, neotype, lateral view; 13— id., aedeagus, lateral view.

FIGURES 1–4. Phoenicurusia transcaucasicus flamma ssp. n. 1—male, holotype; 2—male, paratype, voucher LYC025, Iran, Semnan Prov., Sefid-Kuh Mts., Shahmirzad area, Chashm v. vicinity, 2200 m, 05–06.VII.2010, 35°48’59”N 53°14’46”E, K. Kolesnichenko leg., coll. A. Krupitsky; 3—paratype, female, same data as holotype, leg. et coll. A.R. Naderi. 4—paratype, female, Iran, Esfahan Prov., 25 km E Daran, 2400 m, 27.VI.2008, leg. et coll. A.R. Naderi.

FIGURES 5–6. Phoenicurusia transcaucasicus transcaucasicus. 5—neotype, ♂, Turkey, Kars Prov., 6 km E Kagyzman, Akçay vill., 1500–1700 m, 22.VII.1977, leg. Eckweiler (ZMMU); 6—♂, same locality as in the neotype, 22–28.VII.1976, leg. Eckweiler, coll. A. Krupitsky.

FIGURES 14–16. Diagnostic characters of the new subspecies compared to Ph. phoenicurus and Ph. balucha. 14—paratype, ♂, voucher VNMB1129-21, Mazandaran Prov., Baladeh vill., 2400 m, 13–15.VII.2006; 15—Ph. phoenicurus, Iran, Semnan Prov., Shahrud, Takar vic., 2100 m, 12.VI.2009; 16—Ph. balucha athamantides, Iran, Kerman Prov., 20 km SE Makhan, 2450 m, 19.VI.2014.

FIGURES 19–22. Habitats of the new subspecies and adult in nature. 19–20—type locality, Iran, Esfahan Prov., 20 km E Abyaneh vill., 27–29.V.2014 (photo: A. Naderi); 21—Ph. t. flamma ssp. n., adult male on a flower of Acantholimon sp. in the type locality, 27–29.V.2014 (photo: A. Naderi); 22—habitat of the new subspecies, gorge along the Kashan-Meymeh road E Jevinan (Esfahan Prov.), dry riverbeds and slopes with Atraphaxis bushes, 17.VII.2009 (photo: V. Lukhtanov).