Aulocera sybillina
Creators: name: Lang, Song-Yun
name: Huang, Si-Yao
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nymphalidae
Aulocera
Aulocera sybillina

description: Aulocera sybillina (Oberthür, 1890)
(Figs. 5–6, 19, 25–27, 29 e–h, 30 e–h, 31 a–c)
Satyrus sybillina Oberthür, 1890: 40, pl. 10, f. 106; Seitz, 1908: 122, pl. 41: b; Draeseke, 1925: 56.
Aulocera sybillina: Leech, 1892: 73; Moore, 1893: 36; D’Abrera, 1992: 225; Lang, 2022: 118.
Satyrus (Aulocera) sybillina: Gaede, 1931: 155.
Satyrus (Aulocera) sybillinus: Gross, 1959: 271.
Aulocera sybillinus: Sakai, Aoki & Yamaguchi, 2001: 54.
Material examined: ssp. sybillina: 1 ♂, “ Tatsienlu ”/ “ex c. Oberth.”/ “9/57, ex coll. R. Oberthür ”/ “ZFMK Lep153406 ” (ZFMK); 1 ♂, “ Chasseurs indigènes de Tà-tsien-lou. Récolte de 1910”/ “ZFMK Lep153407 ” (ZFMK); 4 ♂♂ 1 ♀, China: Sichuan, Zoige, Tangke, 3460 m, 21.VII.2017, legs. S-y. Lang & Yi Lang (LSY); 1 ♂, China: Tibet, Zogang, Tiantuo, 14.VII.2012, leg. S-y. Lang (LSY); 1 ♂, China: Gansu, Xiahe, Damai, Xiongmao-gou, 3200 m, 17.VII.2015, leg. G-x. Xue (LSY); 2 ♂♂, China: Gansu, Xiahe, 23–24.VII.2015, leg. H. Huang (LSY); 1 ♂, China: Gansu, Xiahe, Damai, 3100 m, 20.VII.2017, leg. S-y. Lang (LSY); ssp. bianor: 1 ♂, China: Qinghai, Ping’an, 3.VII.2016, leg. K. Song (LSY); 1 ♀, China: Qinghai, Tongren, Xiabulang, 3582 m, 5.VIII.2020, leg. Yi Lang (LSY); 1 ♂, “ Kuku nor Thibet sept. or”/ “ S. sybillinus bianor Gr.Gr. abgebildet: Gross 1958 Bonner Zool. Beitr. Tafel II; Fig. 4”/ “Genital - Präparat: Gross Nr. 63”/ “ZFMK Lep153408 ” (ZFMK); 1 ♂, “ Kukunor Chin. s. occ.”/ “ex coll Kotzsch 6/58” / “571.”/ “ZFMK Lep153409 ” (ZFMK); 1 ♂, “ Kukunor. ”/ “ex coll Kotzsch 6/58”/ “570.”/ “ZFMK Lep153410 ” (ZFMK); ssp. dieshanensis: holotype: ♂, Holotype of Aulocera sybillina dieshanensis Lang, China: Gansu, Zhugqu, Pingding, 2850 m, 20.VII.2020, leg. S-y. Lang (CQMNH); paratypes: 5 ♂♂, paratypes of Aulocera sybillina dieshanensis Lang, China: Gansu, Minxian, Tiechiliang Pass, 3200 m, 21–22.VII.2020, legs. S-y. Lang, Yi Lang & J. Hou (LSY); ssp. microsybillina: holotype: ♂, Holotype of Aulocera sybillina microsybillina Lang, China: Gansu, Tanchang, Xiaogou Pass, 3080 m, 19.VII.2020, leg. S. Y. Lang (CQMNH); paratypes: 2 ♂♂ 1 ♀, Paratypes of Aulocera sybillina microsybillina Lang, same collecting data (LSY); spp. incert.: 1 ♂, “ Kansu mer. or. Fukiang Peilingschan sept. 2500 m. Juli”/ “565.”/ “ex coll. Kotzsch 6/58”/ “ZFMK Lep153511 ” (ZFMK).
Remarks. Aulocera sybillina is an alpine species known from the East Tibetan Plateau (an area including E. Tibet, E. Qinghai, S. Gansu, W. Sichuan, N. Yunnan) and further subdivided into seven subspecies. At or around the type localities of A. pygmaea and A. p. vadimi, four out of seven subspecies are known to occur, they are: ssp. sybillina (Fig. 26), ssp. bianor (Grum-Grshimailo, 1891) (Fig. 27), ssp. dieshanensis Lang, 2022 (Fig. 6), and ssp. microsybillina (Figs. 5, 19). Here we illustrate these subspecies to better demonstrate the status of A. pygmaea.
In addition to these known subspecies, Gross (1959: 274) mentioned a male of “ Satyrus sybillina Oberthür ” (Fig. 25) from Peilingshan, and this specimen was located in ZFMK bearing the label “ Kansu mer. or. Fukiang Peilingschan sept. 2500 m. Juli/ 565./ ex coll. Kotzsch 6/58 / ZFMK Lep153511.” This collecting site, however, was doubted by Gross (1959) as “… die Fundortangabe ostasiatischer Tiere aber oft fehlerhaft (however the location of East Asian animals is often incorrect) ... ”. This male is quite different from Aulocera sybillina microsybillina because of its much larger size. As stated by Gross (1959), it is similar to the nominate A. sybillina from Ta-tsienlu, W. Sichuan (Fig. 26). The precise collecting site of this individual is different from that of A. pygmaea, which was obtained from the north slope of east Peilingshan (“Fukiang Peilingschan sept.”), whereas the type series of A. pygmaea and A. sybillina microsybillina were captured in west Peilingshan (“Taupingfluss” or Xiaogou Pass). Considering the differentiation of A. sybillina in this area (S. Gansu-E. Qinghai-N. Sichuan), it is also possible that this individual (Fig. 25) represents a hitherto undescribed subspecies of A. sybillina occurring in east Peilingshan near Fukiang (nowadays Gangu County).
Distribution. China (N. Sichuan, S.E. Gansu, E. Qinghai, N. Yunnan, E. Tibet).
description: Published as part of Lang, Song-Yun & Huang, Si-Yao, 2023, Notes on Aulocera pygmaea (Holik, 1949) and its related taxa (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), pp. 555-572 in Zootaxa 5357 (4) on page 570, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5357.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/10064792