Eryphanis zolvizora subsp. reyi Bristow, Neild, De Sousa & Huertas 2014, ssp. nov.
Creators: name: Blandin, Patrick
name: Bristow, Roger
name: Neild, Andrew
name: Sousa, Juan Carlos De
name: Gareca, Yuvinka
name: Huertas, Blanca
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Hexapoda
Lepidoptera
Nymphalidae
Eryphanis
Eryphanis zolvizora
Eryphanis zolvizora reyi bristow, neild, de sousa &amp; huertas

description: Eryphanis zolvizora reyi Bristow, Neild, De Sousa & Huertas ssp. nov.
Figs 6A-B, 8A, 14A-C, 15L
Diagnosis
HW projection poorly developed; no orange mark between veins R5-M1 (Fig. 6A-B). The white spot near the middle of the VFW cell is relatively equidimensional, isolated, medium to large (Fig. 6A-B). On the VFW, the white vertical stripes in cell Cu2-2A are generally connected by a thin black horizontal line, thus distinguishing E. z. reyi ssp. nov. from E. z. opimus; the black ring of the anterior VHW ocellus is often broken at the costal margin (Fig. 6A). The valva is regular, without swelling; the ridge bears a row of more than 6 spines, the size of which varies more or less regularly (Fig. 14A).
Etymology
We name this subspecies to honour the memory of the Venezuelan Lepidopterist Rafael Fernando Rey Cárdenas (1958-2010). He was an adept field collector, with a special interest in butterflies of the family Pieridae. He placed great emphasis on collecting in the State of Táchira, around San Cristóbal, as well as in El Tamá National Park, where he discovered a remarkable new montane species of Catasticta (C. revancha – see Rey & Pyrcz 1996). Fernando Rey also generously contributed to AN’s research for the book series The Butterflies of Venezuela (Neild 1996; 2008). An obituary by one of the authors (AN) and Tomasz Pyrcz (MZUJ) is currently in preparation.
Type material(30 specimens)
Holotype
VENEZUELA: ♂, two white labels printed in black: // VENEZUELA, Barinas, La Chimenea, 1500m, [8°49N 70°31’W] 1-6-VI-1973 [1-6 Jun. 1973] // J. Salcedo col.// (MIZA).
Paratypes
VENEZUELA: ♂, // Anzoategui, Qda Guazó, Venezuela, Lara, 1440 m, [9°36’N 69°53’W], 13-16 VI 72, [13-16 Jun. 1972] J. Salcedo & F. Zambrano // (MIZA); ♀, // Anzoategui, Qda Guazó, Venezuela, Lara, 1440 m, [9°36’N 69°53’W], 13-16 VI 72, [13-16 Jun. 1972] J. Salcedo & F. Zambrano // (MIZA); ♂, // Barinas, La Mina above San Isidro, 1450 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], III-1988 [Mar. 1988], leg Romero // (AN); ♂, // Barinas, San Isidro, Las Minas, 1475 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], 07-SEP-2002 [7 Sep. 2002], Col. Juan C. de Sousa C. // (JCSC); ♂, // Barinas, San Isidro, Las Minas, 1500 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], 10 Oct.2010. Col. Mauro Costa // (JCSC); ♀, // Barinas, Qda. La Soledad, Via Barinitas – Sto. Domingo, [8°49’N 70°31’W], 5Apr.1985. Col. Mauro Costa // (JCSC); ♂, // Barinas, La Soledad, [8°49’N 70°31’W], 5-IV-1985 [5 Apr. 1985] // (MCC); ♂, // Barinas, San Isidro, Mina, 1500 m. [8°50’N 70°34’W], 04-X- 2009 [4 Oct. 2009] // (MCC); ♂, // Barinas, San Isidro, Mina, 1500 m. [8°50’N 70°34’W], 04-X-2009 [4 Oct. 2009] // (MCC); ♂, // Barinas, San Isidro, Mina, 1500 m. [8°50’N 70°34’W], 09-XI-2009 [9 Nov. 2009] // (MCC); ♂, // Barinas, San Isidro, Mina, 1500 m. [8°50’N 70°34’W], 12-XII-2009 [12 Dec. 2009] // (MCC); ♀, // Barinas, San Isidro, Mina, 1500 m. [8°50’N 70°34’W], 05-I-2011 [5 Jan. 2011] (MCC); ♀, // VENEZUELA, Barinas, La Chimenea, 1500m, [8°49N 70°31’W] 1-6-VI-1973 [1-6 Jun. 1973] // J. Salcedo col.// (MIZA); ♂, // Barinas, San Isidro, Vallée du Río Santo Domingo, 1500 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], 9-XI-2010 [9 Nov. 2010], M. Costa & S. Attal // (MNHN, PBB 2324); ♂, // Barinas, San Isidro, Vallée du Río Santo Domingo, 1500 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], 9-XI-2010 [9 Nov. 2010], M. Costa & S. Attal // (MNHN, PBB 2325); ♂, // Barinas, Barinitas, [La Mina de San Isidro, 1450 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], X-87 [Oct. 1987], C.f.R // 115-JCSC // (R); ♀, // Barinas, Barinitas, [La Mina de San Isidro, 1450 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], X-87 [Oct. 1987], C.f.R // (R); ♂, // Barinas, Barinitas, [La Mina de San Isidro, 1450 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], X-87 [Oct. 1987], C.f.R // (R); ♀, // Barinas, Barinitas, [La Mina de San Isidro, 1450 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], X-87 [Oct. 1987], C.f.R // (R); ♀, // Barinas, Barinitas, [La Mina de San Isidro, 1450 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], X-88 [Oct. 1988], C.f.R // 116-JCSC // (R); ♀, // Barinas, Barinitas, [La Mina de San Isidro, 1450 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], X-88 [Oct. 1988], C.f.R // (R); ♂, // Barinas, Barinitas, [La Mina de San Isidro, 1400 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], XI-95 [Nov. 1995], C.f.R // (R); ♀, // Barinas, Barinitas, [La Mina de San Isidro, 1400 m, [8°50’N 70°34’W], XI-95 [Nov. 1995], C.f.R // (R); ♀, // Mérida, Páramo El Molino, SE of Sta Cruz de Mora, 1600 m, [8°16’N 71°34’W] 03.I.2001 [3 Jan. 2001], Leg. M. Costa // (AN); ♂, // Táchira, Sierra de El Tamá, Via Delicia, 1900 m, [7°36’N 72°26’W], III-87 [Mar. 1987] C.f.R // (R); ♂, // Táchira, Sierra de El Tamá, Via Delicia (Pabellón), 1700 m, [7°36’N 72°26’W], IV-1990 [Apr. 1990] C.f.R // (R).
COLOMBIA: ♂, Santander, El Cerro-La Luchata, 29/06/2006, 06°37’75’’N 73°18’88’’W, 1950-2050 m, posada on vegetación bosque primero, B. Huertas, C. Rios y J. Arias leg., Proyecto YARE (IAvH); ♂, as preceding specimen, but 30/06/ 2006; ♂, Santander, Charalá, 2000 m, juillet 2008 (MNHN).
Description
Male
The FWL varies from 58 to 62 mm, excluding one male from Colombia with an unusually small FWL of 52 mm (which has been excluded from our statistical measurements). The holotype FWL is 59.5 mm. The hindwing projection (average P = 3.6; n = 15; cf. Table 3) is rather similar to that of E. z. zolvizora and E. z. opimus. There is no orange mark between veins R5-M1 (Fig. 6A-B). The holotype and some of the paratypes have five submarginal orange spots which are contiguous at the veins (Fig. 6A-B). However, the form and size of these spots are variable and in some specimens they are indistinct and disjunct. The violet iridescence on the dorsal surface is stronger than in E. z. opimus, but it is usually a little weaker than in E. z. isabelae ssp. nov., especially on the DFW (Fig. 6A-B). The bright creamy, pale citrus androconial patch is shorter, on average, than in E. z. opimus and E. z. isabelae ssp. nov. (cf. Table 4); it should be noted that, in one specimen from the Sierra de El Tamá, the colour of the patch is a pale greyish-brown, as in E. z. isabelae ssp. nov. Ground colour of the ventral surface as in other subspecies of the Northern Andes, except some darker specimens of E. z. greeneyi (Fig. 6A-B). The shape of the isolated white spot near the middle of the VFW cell is irregular but relatively equidimensional, and its size varies from medium to large; in this way, E. z. reyi ssp. nov. (Fig. 6A-B) is clearly different from E. z. isabelae ssp. nov. (Fig. 6C-D) and other subspecies. On the VFW, the white spot at the basal angle of cell Cu1-Cu2 is generally very small (Fig. 6A), or absent (Fig. 6B). On the VFW, the white vertical stripes in cell Cu2-2A are generally connected by a thin black horizontal line (Fig. 6A-B), which immediately distinguishes E. z. reyi ssp. nov. from E. z. opimus, in which this bridge is absent. On the VHW, the white stripes extend far posterior to the Cu1-Cu2 ocellus. On the VHW, the black markings in the cell and the curved line anterior to the Cu1-Cu2 ocellus are fainter than in E. z. opimus (Fig. 6A-B). In most specimens, the anterior HWV ocellus is encircled by an outer pale/off white circle, contrasting with the background more than in E. z. opimus; in addition, the black ring is often broken at the costal margin (Fig. 6A), a difference with E. z. opimus and E. z. isabelae ssp. nov. On average, the VHW Cu1-Cu2 ocellus (Φ average value: 9.5 mm; n = 15; cf. Table 5) is probably a little smaller than in E. z. opimus. The valva is similar to those of other subspecies of the Northern Andes (Fig. 14A-C); the gnathos is clearly smaller than in E. z. chachapoya ssp. nov. and generally slightly smaller than in E. z. opimus.
Female
Female FWL length varies from 63 to 66.5 mm (mean = 64.8 mm; n= 8). The principal diagnostic characters are the same as in males (Fig. 8A). On the VFW, the black line at the base of VFW cell M3- Cu1 is well-defined, while it is absent or nearly so in females of E. z. isabelae ssp. nov. The forewing band is composed of five well developed, crescentic, submarginal orange spots which are contiguous at the veins. There is a violet-blue dorsal iridescence on both the FW and HW, almost similar to that of E. z. opimus, but usually not so extensive or as blue as that of E. z. isabelae ssp. nov. The genitalia of the two females we have dissected exhibit some differences. In one specimen (El Molino, Mérida), the sterigma is close to that of the females of E. z. opimus and E. z. casagrande ssp. nov., as well those of E. z. isabelae ssp. nov. females: the inward projections are short and not very wide, and the dorsal branches are large. In the other specimen (Barinitas, Barinas; Fig. 15L), the inward projections are wider and larger; consequently the dorsal branches are shorter; most likely this is a matter of individual variation.
Flight periods
Dated specimens are for March to June, and September to November.
Distribution
Colombia. Santander Province of northern Colombia at almost 2000 m.
Venezuela. Cordillera de Mérida in north-western Venezuela, from approximately 1400 to 1900 m on either side of the Cordillera.
Remarks
Specimens of this taxon were discovered during an expedition by the MIZA in 1972 to the Cordillera de Mérida, in north-western Venezuela, where a series of males and females were collected. More recently, E. z. reyi ssp. nov. was observed at sunny intervals resting on herbaceous vegetation, by one of the authors (BH) and colleagues in the pristine forest (surrounded by regenerated forest) at La Luchata, in the Serranía de los Yariguíes, Santander, during field expeditions of the YARE Project, and 2 specimens were collected (see details in Huertas & Donegan 2006). La Luchata is the type locality of another recently described butterfly (Huertas et al. 2009).
description: Published as part of Blandin, Patrick, Bristow, Roger, Neild, Andrew, Sousa, Juan Carlos De, Gareca, Yuvinka & Huertas, Blanca, 2014, Revisiting the Andean butterfly Eryphanis zolvizora group (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae): one or several species?, pp. 1-66 in European Journal of Taxonomy 71 (71) on pages 38-40, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2014.71, http://zenodo.org/record/3834958