Dion agassus ( Mabille, 1891 )

Zhang, Jing, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui & Grishin, Nick V., 2022, Taxonomic changes suggested by the genomic analysis of Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera), Insecta Mundi 2022 (921), pp. 1-135 : 83

Dion agassus ( Mabille, 1891) , reinstated status, new combination

Mielke and Casagrande (2002) synonymized Pamphila agassus Mabille, 1891 (type locality Brazil: Amazonas, Massauary) with Hesperia uza Hewitson, 1877 (type locality not stated), both in Enosis Mabille, 1889 (type species Enosis dognini Mabille, 1889 ) following Evans (1955). Genomic sequencing of the lectotypes of these taxa revealed prominent genetic differentiation suggesting their distinctness at the species level. For example, their COI barcodes differ by 2.3%. Phenotypically, H. uza is larger than P. agassus : typical forewing lengths 19-20 mm vs. 17 mm; and the lavender area on its ventral hindwing is broader, occupying more than half of the wing. Moreover, ventral hindwing is patterned differently in the two species: P. agassus has a discal band of pale-blue metallic spots framed by brown background and lilac (more pinkish) distal area, while in H. uza these spots merged with the lavender (more bluish) background, not visibly contrasting it in color (but remain as patches of bluer than background metallic scales), and instead there is a row of indistinct brown streaks (remnants of the distal brown framing of P. agassus pale-blue spots) on the lavender background. While it is possible that wing patterns are variable, genetic distinctness identifies the two species. Above, we placed H. uza in Dion Godman, 1901 (type species Carystus gemmatus Butler, 1872 ), and P. agassus is its close relative that belongs to the same genus. Therefore, we propose Dion agassus ( Mabille, 1891) , reinstated status, new combination.