Melitaea lutko Evans, 1932

Figs 1A–B, 2A, E, I, M, 3H–I, 4E, 5, 16I, 18D–E, 29F, 30

“ Melitaea robertsi lutko, nov.” – Evans, 1932: 185.

Type locality: “Chitral” [Pakistan, Chitral town vicinity, Lutko (= Lutkho) river valley]. The type locality in the work of Evans (1932) is indicated by Chitral without more precise details. The holotype, by the label data, comes from the valley of the Lutko River, along the riverbed where the road runs from the city of Chitral to the settlement of Garam Chashma.

Type material

Holotype (Fig. 1A–B) We have photos of the holotype ♂ at our disposal with the following labels: “type, lutko / Evans ” (handwritten label); “WHE – 1932 – 274” (printed label); “ Chitral / Lutko v.[alley] / 9000/ 1.06.30” (handwritten label); BMHN.

Material examined

PAKISTAN • 2 ♂♂ (all dissected), 1 ♀ (dissected); Chitral, Chaghbini CGNP [Chitral Gol National Park]; alt. 2700 m; 5 Jun.2012; EDMSU .

Redescription

Male (Fig. 2A, I)

WINGS. FW length is 16.5–18 mm, in holotype – 18 mm; UPS ground color is bright red-orange (the holotype, which has faded with time (Fig. 1A), has UPS ground color yellowish-orange); UPS black pattern strongly developed; UPS black marginal border is rather wide with large marginal spots along the outer edge of the wings; UPF submarginal row is well developed and formed by well-defined black strokes, UPH submarginal row represented by lunules often connected with each other (Fig. 1A); UPF discal spots enlarged and fused near the costa; UPF postdiscal pale-yellowish area, located behind the black discal spots, is weakly expressed or expressed only at the costal edge; UPH discal row is usually absent; UPH black basal suffusion covers more than ⅓ of the wing surface. Higgins (1941: pl. 9 fig. 5) gives an image of a male specimen from Murree, in which the UPH basal suffusion covers at least half of the wing area. UNF is bright red-orange, with a well-defined pale area of the outer edge of the wing between the veins Sc and M2; UNH ground color is white with an admixture of dark scales. UNH lunules forming the proximal edge of submarginal orange fascia outwardly concave and sharply pointed between veins M3 and Cu2.

MALE GENITALIA (FigS 3H–I, 16I, 18D–E, 29F). Expanded and powerful caudal process of broad valva with 1–3 small spines on its dorsal surface and with a thin distal outgrowth curved inward. The relatively short harpe is noticeably expanded in the central part, on its inner surface there is a powerful median tooth and smaller teeth on both sides of it. The length of the harpe is about a third of the length of the valva. The aedeagus is distally straight, only slightly curved. The posterior part of the aedeagus is at an angle to the anterior part and is directed downward. There is a protrusion on the ventral side at the junction of both parts of the aedeagus. Saccus is thin, pointed at the top. Higgins (1941) pointed out that the size and shape of the saccus are not constant.

The genitalia of studied males of M. lutko generally coincide with the description of Higgins (1941). It should be noted that Higgins made a drawing of the genitalia, placing the valva at another angle (almost perpendicular to the microscope lens) compared to the photos in this review. Because of this, the caudal process of the valva in Higgins’ drawings visually looks thinner than it actually is. The originality of Higgins’ illustrations was pointed out by van Oorschot & Coutsis (2014).

Female (Fig. 2E, M)

WINGS. FW length is 20 mm. Higgins (1941) noted that the female is usually a little larger than the male. UPS ground color is orange-red. In general, the UPS black pattern is less developed than in males. Higgins (1941) observed slightly melanic female specimens; with UPF postdiscal yellowish-pale area expressed, there is also a yellowish spot in the discoidal cell. The UPF submarginal row has black spots, the UPH submarginal row has black lunules. The UPH black discal row is well developed. The UNS pattern of the female is similar to that of the male.

FEMALE GENITALIA (Fig. 4E). The postvaginal plate is oval. The antevaginal plate is narrow in dorsoventral direction, and its outer edge does not extend beyond the boundaries of the bend of the postvaginal plate (auricules). The bacillus is long and thin and is connected to the antrum by a thin lintel.

Distribution (Fig. 5)

Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the vicinity of Birmoglasht, Chitral, Malakand. According to Higgins (1941) the species is distributed from Murree (Punjab) to Chitral. Gasse (2021) considers the reference to the habitation of M. lutko in Murree to be erroneous, but he does not give arguments for this.