Stibochiona nicea wangyukunae, Li & Liu, 2022

Li, Hua-Zhao & Liu, Zhe, 2022, Notes on Stibochiona nicea (Gray, 1846) from China with description of a new subspecies from Hainan Island (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae), Zootaxa 5169 (4), pp. 392-398 : 393

Stibochiona nicea wangyukunae ssp. nov.

( Figs. 1–8 , 19–26 , 37 )

LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6A8D23C2-FD10-4FDF-90D6-CA762A46BCD5

Stibochiona nicea nicea: Joicey & Talbot, 1928: 10 , Five Finger Mt. [Mt. Wuzhi], June, 5,000 ft., 1♂, May, 1♀; Gu & Chen, 1997: 177, fig. 174.

Holotype: male, 19.IV.2022, Jianfengling , Ledong Li Autonomous County, Hainan, China, Zhe Liu leg. ( MHAU; HN1 ) . Paratypes: male, 7.III.2020, same locality as holotype, Zhe Liu leg. ( Collection of Zhe Liu , CZL; HN2 ); male , 27.III.2020, same locality as holotype, Zhe Liu leg. ( CZL; HN3 ); male , 14.IV.2020, Mt. Liuluo, Sanya , Hainan, Zhe Liu leg. ( CHZL; HN4 ); male , 2.XI.2020, same locality as holotype, Zhe Liu leg. ( CZL; HN5 ); male , 3. VI .2022 , Mt. Wuzhi, Wuzhishan , Hainan, Zhe Liu leg. ( CZL; HN6 ); female, 1. VI .2022 , same locality as HN6, Bo-Tao Huang leg. ( CHZL; HN7 ); female, 4. VI .2022 , same locality as HN6, Zhe Liu leg. ( CZL; HN8 ).

Description. Male. Length of forewing 29–33 mm (n= 6, 33 mm in holotype). Forewing upper side ground color black with three rows of concrete white spots in discal, postdiscal, and submarginal areas. A diffused zigzag blue line present between submarginal and marginal series of white spots. Discal cell scattered with several blue spots. Forewing under side generally similar to upper side but with all spots more prominent and without zigzag blue line in submarginal area. Hindwing upper side ground color black. A serrate blue line running from cell 1b to cell 5 in postdiscal area. A series of characteristic marginal patches presented from cells 1b– 6 in submarginal and marginal areas. Blue section of patch usually double broader than white section. Hindwing under side with series of blue spots present from base to postmedial area, marginal area with a series of white patches with inner margin concave. Female. Length of forewing 36–37 mm (n=2). Similar to male but larger in size. Forewing more rounded, ground color duller.

Male genitalia. Uncus lobe-like with distal end forming a small bifurcated hook. Tegumen moderately broad. Gnathos ring-like. Vinculum slender. Juxta Y-shaped. Saccus shorter than half length of vinculum. Valva trapezoid. Costa simple. Sacculus with a rectangular process basally with dense dentation presented at its dorsal ridge. Phallus slender, broader at base. Coecum short.

Diagnosis. The new subspecies can be distinguished from the other two subspecies, ssp. nicea and ssp. subucula , by the combination of the following characters:

1. The blue discal spots on the underside of the forewing in cells 1b, 2 and 3 are situated inline, whereas in ssp. nicea and ssp. subucula the spot in cell 2 shifted basally.

2. On the hindwing upper side, the blue-white marginal patches are compact and rectangular as in ssp. subucula , whereas in ssp. nicea , the patches are variable in shape.

3. On the hindwing upper side, the blue-white marginal patches have blue section usually broader than the twice the width of the white section, whereas in ssp. subucula the white section broader than the blue section, and in ssp. nicea , the ratio between white and blue section is variable.

Distribution. Currently only known from Hainan Island, S. China.

Etymology. This subspecific name is dedicated to Dr. Yu-Kun Wang, who financially supports the senior author for his taxonomic studies.

Remarks. No individual from Hainan is found resembling specimens from Vietnam ( Inayoshi & Saito 2021) nor specimens used in the present study or in literatures (e.g. Chen 2017) from S. China, which are adjacent to Hainan. Hence, we hereby treat population from Hainan as a new subspecies via superficial features. Regarding the publications related to butterflies of Hainan, 1) Gu & Chen (1997) assigned the insular samples to the nominate ssp. Moreover, the figured female should actually be male. 2) A living adult with characters close to the nominotypical subspecies was photographed from Yinggeling, Hainan and figured in Wang et al. (2020). However, according to the photographer Hai-Feng Jia (pers. comm.), this individual was actually photographed in Jiangxi, E. China and thus belongs to ssp. nicea without doubt. 3) Zhang & Zhang (2018) figured an individual from Jiangsu, E. China which is identical to the new subspecies. However, the source of this specimen cannot be determined by Song-Kui Zhang (pers. comm.). It probably is based on a wrongly labeled specimen from Hainan.

Figures

FIGURE 1–18. Dorsal view of Stibochiona nicea sspp. 1–8, wangyukunae ssp. nov. from Hainan; 9–16, nicea from S. China; 17–18, subucula from W. Yunnan.

FIGURE 19–36. Ventral view of Stibochiona nicea sspp. 19–26, wangyukunae ssp. nov. from Hainan; 27–34, nicea from S. China; 35–36, subucula from W. Yunnan.

FIGURE 37–39. Male genitalia of Stibochiona nicea sspp with left valva removed. 37, wangyukunae ssp. nov., holotype, HN1; 38, nicea, GX1; 39, subucula, YN2; a = lateral view of vinculum; b = lateral view of valvae; c = lateral view of phallus; d = posterior view of juxta.