Amathuxidia amythaon morishitai Chou & Gu, 1994

Li, Hua-Zhao, Liu, Zhe, Hou, Yong-Xiang, Li, Jia-Ling & Huang, Bo-Tao, 2024, Revision of the taxonomic status of Amathuxidia morishitai from Hainan, China (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 64 (1), pp. 9-16 : 11-13

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.37520/aemnp.2024.002
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8B178248-93AC-462D-AB6D-C4DA01CCEAF7
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E364AE48-E422-FFA2-D219-F9D5FDCED33D
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Amathuxidia amythaon morishitai Chou & Gu, 1994
status	stat. nov.

Treatment

Amathuxidia amythaon morishitai Chou & Gu, 1994 ,

stat. nov.

(Chinese name: ŽḆỊạģƫfiḁ)

( Figs 1–6 View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig )

Amathuxidia morishitai Chou & Gu, 1994 in CHOU (1994: 299, fig. for ♁ HT + 755, fig. 15 for ♁ genitalia). Type locality: Hainan.

Amathuxidia morishitai : CHOU (1998: 56, figs 5–8) (inaccurate wing venation, see in remarks); LANG (2012): 65 (notes); WU (2017): 696, fig. 01 (♁ with notes); WANG et al. (2020): 89 (♀); ZHOU et al. (2022): 37 (♀).

Amathuxidia amythaon View in CoL spp.: KOIWAYA (1995): 12 (status discussion).

Material examined. Amathuxidia morishitai Chou & Gu, 1994 . 4JJ 2 ♀♀, CHINA: HAINAN: Mt. Wuzhi, Wuzhishan, 31.iii.2020, 1 J, Z. Liu leg. (Collection of Wu Zhishan Division of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park Bureau, CWZS); ditto, 6.x.2019, 1J, Z. Liu leg. ( CWZS); ditto, 18.xi.2019, 1 J, Z. Liu leg. ( CWZS); ditto, 22.vi.2022, 1J, Z. Liu leg.( CWZS; voucher HNM-01; access number OQ324882); Jianfengling, 20.vi.2022, 1 ♀, Z. Liu leg. ( CWZS; HNF- 01; OQ324883); Mt. Wuzhi, 18.vii.2023, 1 ♀, Z. Liu leg. ( CWZS; HNF- 02).

Description of female. External characters. Sexual dimorphism: Larger than male. Rows of spines on tibia in foreleg absent. Wing upperside ground color brown and duller. Forewing upperside with oblique yellow band from centre of costa to tornus and small ochre patch close to inner edge of yellow band in space 2. Hindwing upperside with marginal yellow patch reducing from apex to vein 2. Patterns of wing underside similar to those of males but tinged with deep brown ( Fig. 1 View Fig ). Genitalia. Anterior edge of sterigma irregular with antrum sclerotized. Sterigma elongated posteriorly forming bifurcate projection. Projection excavated but less than half length of projection. Corpus bursa elliptical with two slender signa ( Fig. 4 View Fig ).

Diagnosis. This insular subspecies can be separated from A. a. annamensis by the combination of the following characteristics ( Figs 1–4 View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig ):

i) Oblique band on the forewing upperside is more tapering in males and narrower in females.

ii) Apical yellow patch on the hindwing upperside is slightly more developed in females.

iii) White band along the outer edge of the postdiscal line on the hindwing underside is often more prominent.

iv) Excavation on the projection of sterigma is less deep.

v) Absence of perfumed scent from the sex brands.

Stigma. Sex brands on the hindwing upperside are recognized as two kinds of specialized scales. One is a broad velvety patch covering the cell, base of spaces 1b and 2. As FRUHsTORFER (1911) noted, a pleasant scent emanates from this patch leaving A. amythaon among the most perfumed butterflies. Such fragrance can also be detected in A. a. annamensis, but this synapomorphy is absent in A. a. morishitai stat. nov., a particular alteration in odor characteristics that has never been reported ( Fig. 2 View Fig ). The second type of scales are hair tufts laying along vein 1b, which is black and inconspicuous in the annamensis- -group, whilst brown and notable in the amythaon -group ( D’ABRERA 1985, VAN DER POORTEN & VAN DER POORTEN 2020) ( Fig. 2 View Fig ).

Biology. This insular subspecies can be encountered in dense forests mixed with bamboo at low to moderate elevations (alt. 200–700 m). Its time of activity is approximately from 9:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and it likes to rest on foliage or trunks ( Fig. 3 View Fig ).

Phenology. Multivoltine. Unexpectedly, this scarce subspecies has a wide flight period and can be found all year round ( WU 2017; J. S. Lu & J. H. Lu, pers. comm. 2022; Lo, pers. comm. 2023).

Variations. The dorsum of the forewing in males is occasionally not protruded.

Larva and host. Both immature stages and host plants of the genus Amathuxidia are currently unknown, probably Palmae species serve as foodplants ( CANTLIE 1952, IGA- RAsHI & FUKUDA 1997).

Distribution. Endemic to Hainan Is. ( China).

Remarks. The characters originally given and the illustration of wing venation provided by CHOU (1998) showed that hindwing tornus in A. a. morishitai stat. nov. is not extended, which is regarded by Chou & Gu ( CHOU 1994) as a major feature. However, examined materials from Hainan and other previous literature all pointed out that this insular population bears a tail on each hindwing that is not different from other sister taxa. Consequently, the holotype of A. a. morishitai stat. nov. is deemed to be a worn individual whose tornus is lost, which probably misled Chou and Gu’s judgment.

In addition to the Hainan subspecies, two other subspecies of A. amythaon can also be occasionally found in the frontiers of China: the nominotypical subspecies in S. Shannan, Xizang, photographed in KUNTE et al. (2023), and the Vietnamese subspecies offered for sale by some local dealers who claim that it was collected from Xishuangbanna, S. Yunnan ( Figs 1 View Fig , 5 View Fig ). However, records of the two subspecies have not been formally documented, and further investigations in these areas are needed to enhance our understanding of Chinese biodiversity.