Hestina japonica ( Felder and Felder, 1862 )

Lee, Young June, 2009, Apaturinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from the Korean Peninsula: Synonymic Lists and Keys to Tribes, Genera and Species, Zootaxa 2169, pp. 1-20 : 8-9

Hestina japonica ( Felder and Felder, 1862)

( Figs. 3 , 11–12 )

Apatura japonica Felder and Felder, 1862: 27 [Type locality: “ Japonia ”].

Hestina japonica: Matsumura, 1907: 80 (first record from Korea); Lee, 1971: 12; Seok, 1973: 150; Lee, 1973: 6; Lee, 1982: 76; Lee, 2005: 27.

Diagora japonica: Seok, 1939b: 107 ; Seok, 1942: 87.

Euripus japonicus var. chinensis Leech, 1890a: 32 [Type locality: “N. of Ichang”, China]; Nakayama, 1932: 379 ( Diagora japonica subsp.); Mori et al., 1934: 36 ( Diagora japonica subsp.).

Hestina subviridis Leech, 1891: 27 [Type locality: “Wa-ssu-Kow”, northwestern China]; Doi, 1931: 45 ( Diagora ); Nakayama, 1932: 379 ( Diagora ); Mori et al., 1934: 36 ( Diagora ); Seok, 1939b: 108 ( Diagora ); Seok, 1973: 150 ( japonica f.).

Hestina japonica seoki Shirôzu, 1955: 232 [Type locality: central and south Korea]; Kim and Mi, 1956: 382, 397; Shin, 1975: 45; Inomata, 1982: xix.

Hestina japonica f. japonica: Seok, 1973: 150 .

Hestina persimilis: Chou, 1994: 449 (nec Westwood, [1850]).

Subspecies. The Korean populations are considered to belong to subsp. seoki independently from the nominal subspecies in Japan and subsp. chinensis in eastern China ( Fig. 11 ).

Adult. Active from early May to as late as late September, depending on brood (three broods in C. Korea). Males often puddle ( Fig. 12 ), and they feed on carrion or fermenting fluxes on trees. Males occasionally fly to and pass by mountain peaks or ridges and sometimes are territorial and engage in hilltopping. Females are attracted to fermenting fluids, especially fluxes issuing from oak trees.

Larval host plants. Celtis jessoensis Koidz. , Celtis sinensis Pers. , etc. of the Ulmaceae ( Joo et al. 1997) .

Life cycle. Not documented for the Korean populations. Usually the 4th or 5th instar larvae hibernate on undersides of dry fallen leaves on the ground below the food plants.

Distribution. Central and southern Korea (including some adjacent islands of Gyeongsangnam-do and Jeollanam-do, but not on Jejudo Is. and Ulleungdo Is.), eastern China, Japan.

Remarks. Korean populations belong to Hestina japonica but have often been misidentified as Hestina persimilis , which is distributed in southern China, Indo-China, Myanmar, the Himalayas and eastern India, etc. ( Fig. 11 ). The two species of the Hestina persimilis species complex, H. persimilis and H. japonica , are morphologically similar but distinguishable by differences in wing shape and wing pattern. H. persimilis apparently mimics a danaid butterfly, Parantica aglea (Stoll) , which overlaps the distribution of H. persimilis . However, H. japonica doesn’t mimic P. aglea , which is not sympatric with H. japonica .

Figures

FIGURE 11. Diagram of the distributional ranges of the Hestina persimilis species complex.

FIGURES 12 – 13. Males of Hestina japonica and Hestina assimilis puddling on wet ground. 12. Hestina japonica (Felder and Felder) (spring brood), Gwangneung, Korea, 13 May 2004; 13. Hestina assimilis (Linnaeus) (spring brood), Gwangneung, Korea, 31 May 2004.

FIGURES 3 – 10. Male specimens of eight species of the Korean Apaturinae. 3. Hestina japonica (Felder and Felder) (summer brood); 4. Sasakia charonda (Hewitson); 5. Mimathyma nycteis (Ménétriès); 6. Sephisa princeps (Fixsen); 7. Chitoria ulupi (Doherty); 8. Apatura ilia (Denis and Schiffermüller); 9. Apatura metis Freyer; 10. Apatura iris (Linnaeus).