Lerema pattenii Scudder, 1872

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 : 67-68

Lerema pattenii Scudder, 1872 , reinstated status, with Pamphila bipunctata Mabille, 1889 and Sarega staurus Mabille, 1904 as its junior subjective synonyms

Inspection of photographs of Lerema pattenii Scudder, 1872 (type locality Guatemala) holotype (MCZ collection) currently considered a junior subjective synonym of Lerema accius (J. E. Smith, 1797) reveals striated hindwing below and the presence of a white subapical spot in cell R 2 -R 3 by the forewing apex. The latter character, according to Evans (1955: 163), is diagnostic of Lerema lumina and is not found in L. accius . We have not seen a striated hindwing pattern in L. accius specimens either. Therefore, L. pattenii is not L. accius , but it keys to L. lumina in Evans (1955). As we have shown above, Cobalus lumina Herrich-Schäffer, 1869 belong to Cymaenes . The C. lumina lectotype lacks white dashes along costa near forewing apex below and subapical white spot in forewing space 9 (i.e., cell R 2 -R 3) and thus does not key out to “ L. lumina ” in Evans (1955). Hence, the senior synonym of Evans’ “ L. lumina ” would be the name for it. Pamphila bipunctata Mabille, 1889 (type locality Panama) and Sarega staurus Mabille, 1904 (type locality Colombia) are currently listed as synonyms of Evans’ “ L. lumina ” ( Mielke 2005) . However, L. pattenii was published in 1872, prior to both of them, and therefore we reinstate it as a species.

Sequencing of the P. bipunctata syntype in the ZMHB (NVG-15035G01) confirms that it belongs to Lerema Scudder, 1872 (type species Papilio accius J. E. Smith, 1797 ) and not to Cymaenes Scudder, 1872 (type species Cobalus tripunctus Herrich-Schäffer, 1865 ), because it is sister to the type species of Lerema , and Cymaenes species are in a different clade ( Fig. 14 ). This analysis confirms that Pamphila bipunctata cannot be a synonym of Cymaenes lumina , because they belong to different and distantly related genera. Instead, we find that in wing patterns, both P. bipunctata and S. staurus agree closely with L. pattenii and we propose to treat the former two taxa as junior subjective synonyms of the latter.

Hesperia aethra Plötz, 1886 is a junior subjective synonym of Lerema lineosa (Herrich-Schäffer, 1865)

Hesperia aethra Plötz, 1886 (type locality Suriname) was treated as a synonym of Morys compta (Butler, 1877) (type locality Brazil: Para) by Evans (1955). Genomic analysis places the H. aethra syntype in the ZMHB with Lerema lineosa (Herrich-Schäffer, 1865) (type locality Brazil) ( Fig. 14 ). Their COI barcodes are only 0.15% (1 bp) different, and the specimens are phenotypically similar, being rather pale below with more diffuse vague spots on hindwing compared to darker M. compta with spots frequently more defined. Therefore, we propose that Hesperia aethra Plötz, 1886 is a junior subjective synonym of Lerema lineosa (Herrich-Schäffer, 1865) .

Cobalopsis valerius (Möschler, 1879) , new combination and Morys ancus (Möschler, 1879) , reinstated status, new combination

Genomic sequencing of the holotype of Apaustus valerius Möschler, 1879 (type locality Colombia, NVG- 15035E03, in the ZMHB) places it among species of Cobalopsis Godman, 1900 (type species Pamphila edda Mabille, 1891 , which is junior subjective synonym of Hesperia autumna Plötz, 1882 ) ( Fig. 14 ), and therefore we therefore propose Cobalopsis valerius (Möschler, 1879) , new combination. This leaves a taxon known as “ Morys valerius valerius ” in Evans (1955) without a name. However, a syntype of Pamphila ancus Möschler, 1879 (type locality Colombia, NVG-15036E08) in the ZMHB, currently treated as a junior subjective synonym of Cymaenes tripunctus theogenis (Capronnier, 1874) , was clustered with specimens identified as “ M. v. valerius ” sensu Evans, providing an available name for this species ( Fig. 14 ). Furthermore, P. ancus agrees with Evans’ characters given for “ M. v. valerius ” better than the A. valerius holotype: for example, paler general appearance, ventral forewing with a violet sheen near apex, a well-defined opaque spot in forewing cell CuA 2 -1A+2A (Ib in Evans’ notation), and forewing apical spots are closer to being along a single line. Therefore, we reinstate Morys ancus (Möschler, 1879) , new combination, as a species. This is the species Evans identified as “ Morys valerius valerius ”. Below, we confirm that M. ancus is not conspecific with Morys valda Evans, 1955 described originally as Morys valerius valda , and propose to treat Morys as a subgenus of Lerema Scudder, 1872 .

Figures

Figure 14. Genomic tree of Moncina, part 2. See Fig. 1 legend for notations.