Bolla (Sebia), Zhang & Cong & Shen & Song & Grishin, 2023

Zhang, Jing, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui, Song, Leina & Grishin, Nick V., 2023, Genomics-based taxonomic rearrangement of Achlyodini and Carcharodini (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Pyrginae), Insecta Mundi 2023 (16), pp. 1-33 : 27

Bolla (Bovaria) aplica (E. Bell, 1937) is a species distinct from Bolla (Sebia) eusebius ( Plötz, 1884)

Genomic sequencing of the holotype of Pholisora aplica E. Bell, 1937 (type locality in Mexico: Guerrero, NVG-18024D09, GenBank barcode OR665728) and the lectotype of Nisoniades eusebius Plötz, 1884 (type locality in Central America, NVG-15033G09) regarded by Evans (1953) as conspecific in the genus Bolla Mabille, 1903 (type species Bolla pullata Mabille, 1903 , treated as a junior subjective synonym of Staphylus imbras Godman and Salvin, 1896 ) reveals that they belong to different subgenera: Bovaria new subgenus (type species Achlyodes cyclops Mabille, 1876 ) and Sebia new subgenus (type species Nisoniades eusebius Plötz, 1884 ), respectively ( Fig. 5 ). This problem arose because Evans (1953) misidentified N. eusebius , e.g., its syntype has costal fold, but according to Evans’ key, his “ eusebius ” lacks costal fold. The phylogenetic tree shows that N. eusebius is sister to Bolla (Sebia) orsines (Godman and Salvin, 1896) (type locality in Mexico: Jalisco) and P. aplica is sister to Bolla (Bovaria) sodalis ( Schaus, 1913) (type locality Costa Rica: El Alto), restored status, Thus, although we have not sequenced specimens identified by Evans as “ eusebius ”, we hypothesize that they were B. sodalis . We find that while P. aplica is closely related to B. sodalis , they show some genetic differentiation, e.g., their COI barcodes differ by 0.6% (4 bp) and come from different biogeographic areas. Therefore, to attract attention to the problem and due to confusion in the literature, we propose that Bolla (Bovaria) aplica (E. Bell, 1937) , restored status, is a species-level taxon distinct from both Bolla (Sebia) eusebius ( Plötz, 1884) (definitively) and Bolla (Bovaria) sodalis ( Schaus, 1913) (tentatively), and leave it for future studies to determine whether it is best treated as a subspecies of the latter.

Bolla (Sebia) chilpancingo (E. Bell, 1937) is a species distinct from Bolla (Bolla) subapicatus (Schaus, 1902) ; the latter is a junior subjective synonym of Bolla (Bolla) imbras (Godman and Salvin, 1896)

Genomic sequencing of the holotype of Pholisora chilpancingo Bell, 1937 (type locality in Mexico: Guerrero, NVG-18024E12, GenBank barcode OR665729) and a syntype of Staphylus subapicatus Schaus, 1902 (type locality in Mexico: Veracruz, NVG-18061C07, GenBank barcode OR665730) regarded by Evans (1953) as conspecific in the genus Bolla Mabille, 1903 (type species Bolla pullata Mabille, 1903 , treated as a junior subjective synonym of Staphylus imbras Godman and Salvin, 1896 ) reveals that they belong to different subgenera: Sebia new subgenus (type species Nisoniades eusebius Plötz, 1884 ) and the nominotypical subgenus, respectively ( Fig. 5 ). This problem arose because Evans (1953) misidentified S. subapicatus . Indeed, P. chilpancingo forms a distinct lineage in the tree and keys to the “ subapicatus ” of Evans. However, S. subapicatus falls within the genetic variation of Bolla (Bolla) imbras (Godman and Salvin, 1896) (type locality in Mexico: Veracruz and Tabasco, and Guatemala) ( Fig. 5 ), e.g., the COI barcodes of the specimens we sequenced differ by 1 bp. Therefore, we propose that Bolla (Sebia) chilpancingo (E. Bell, 1937) , restored status, is a valid species distinct from Bolla (Bolla) subapicatus (Schaus, 1902) , but the latter taxon is a new junior subjective synonym of Bolla (Bolla) imbras (Godman and Salvin, 1896) .

Figures

Figure 5. The nuclear genome-based phylogeny of Carcharodini, middle segment (continues in 6, see Fig. 4 for the first segment) showing Pholisorina subtrib. n. Species formerly placed in Staphylus are labeled in red. Asterisk marks a species with a dedicated study (Lemes et al. 2023) that already assigned it to Bolla. See Fig. 1 for notations.