Brassolis sophorae (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bristow, C. Roger, 2008, A review of the genus Brassolis Fabricius in Colombia and Ecuador with description of two new taxa (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae), Zootaxa 1806 (1), pp. 47-58 : 54-55

Brassolis sophorae (Linnaeus, 1758)

( Plate 1 , figs. 3–7)

Three taxa, all named by Stichel (luridus, ardens and philomela) have been linked to sophorae in Colombia and Ecuador.

The description of B. sophorae luridus was based on one male in Stichel’s collection ( Stichel 1902, p.520). In the Rothschild Collection in the BMNH there is a male with a printed label ‘ Colombia, R. Magdalana [sic] s e.c. Stichel’, a handwritten ‘ B. sophorae lurida Stich. Type’, a round, red-margined, ‘type’ label, and a red, rectangular, ‘Typus’ label. This is regarded as the holotype ( Plate 1 , fig. 3). As stated above, sophorae does not appear to occur in the Magdalena Valley and the type is probably from the Colombian Oriente. The forewing band of type luridus is more yellow than most Colombian specimens of sophorae from the Oriente (but matched by one from Casanare); the two spots at the apex of the forewing cell are well developed (also seen in the Casanare specimen), the hindwing band is narrower (but matched by one from Mocoa) and less distinct (but matched by a specimen from Leticia). Thus, type luridus does not differ significantly from specimens of Colombian sophorae from the Oriente, which in turn are similar to philomela (see below) from the Ecuadorian Oriente. I regard these two taxa as one, for which the name luridus has priority, and philomela falls as a synonym.

Initially ( Stichel 1909, p.13), Ecuadorian specimens of sophorae from the Oriente were grouped with subspecies ardens Stichel from Peru, but later ( Stichel 1925, p.60), they were named philomela.

The description of ardens was based on two male syntypes from ‘ Peru merid. (Chanchamayo) i. coll. Thieme, Berlin et mea, leg. W. Hoffmanns’. In selecting one of these as lectotype, there is a slight problem. A male figured by Stichel (1904b, pl 3., fig. 1) was not designated a type, but it could be the syntype in ‘coll. Thieme’. In this same article, Stichel (1904b, p.7) changed the collecting locality to ‘Süd Peru’. A different male in the Rothschild Collection has a round, red-margined, ‘Type’ label, a red, rectangular Typus label, a printed rectangular label ‘Süd Peru, Pozuzo, e.c. H. Stichel’, and a handwritten ‘ B. sophor . ardens Stich. Cotype’. Whenever Stichel had several specimens in a type series, he appeared to regard one, to which he fixed a handwritten determination, as holotype, and the others (which simply bear red ‘typus’ labels) as paratypes. He never formally designated holotypes, but, with one exception, I have always ( Bristow, 1991, p. 206 and references therein) selected as lectotype in each case, the specimen with the handwritten label. Despite the slight discrepancy in locality data, the above male has been designated lectotype ( Plate 1 , fig. 7).

The description of philomela appears to have been based on one male and one female from Macas, Ecuador. A male in the Rothschild Collection with a round, red-margined, ‘Type’ label, a rectangular red ‘Typus’ label, a white printed ‘Macas, Ecuador’ label, and a handwritten ‘ B. s. philomela Stich.’ is designated the lectotype ( Plate 1 , fig.5). There is also a female with a red rectangular ‘Typus’ label and a printed ‘Macas, Ecuador’ which is regarded as a paralectotype ( Plate 1 , fig.4). However, as stated above, philomela, new synonym, is a junior synonym of luridus.

The difference between ardens and luridus is not absolutely clear-cut, but a combination of at least two of the following features appear to be diagnostic. In both sexes of luridus:

1) the forewing band only just enters the space below vein 2a (much better developed in ardens).

2) generally, the hindwing band is not so well developed (there are several exceptions, but the widest bands

are confined to specimens of ardens, and the least well developed to luridus).

In male luridus:

1) the forewing band is usually confined to the upper part of the cell.

2) one, commonly two, co-joined spots at apex of cell better developed.

The holotype measures 41 mm; female forewing length varies from 48 mm to 57 mm.

Figures

PLATE 1 (haenschi and sophorae) 1. Brassolis haenschi haenschi female ECUADOR: Normandia, BMNH. 2. Brassolis haenschi haenschi male ECUADOR: Macas ZMUC. 3. Brassolis sophorae luridus Holotype male, COLOMBIA: Río Magdalena, BMNH. 4. Brassolis sophorae philomela Paralectotype female, ECUADOR: Macas, BMNH. 5. Brassolis sophorae philomela Lectotype male, ECUADOR: Macas, BMNH. 6. Brassolis sophorae ardens female, Peru La Union, BMNH. 7. Brassolis sophorae ardens Lectotype male, PERU: Pozuzo, BMNH.