Zischkaia saundersii
Creators: name: Nakahara, Shinichi
name: Zacca, Thamara
name: Dias, Fernando M. S.
name: Dolibaina, Diego R.
name: Xiao, Lei
name: Espeland, Marianne
name: Casagrande, Mirna M.
name: Mielke, Olaf H. H.
name: Lamas, Gerardo
name: Huertas, Blanca
name: Kleckner, Kaylin
name: Willmott, Keith R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nymphalidae
Zischkaia
Zischkaia saundersii

description: Zischkaia saundersii (Butler, 1867)
Figs 1, 3 A–D, 5 A, 7 A–B, 8 B, 10 D–F, 13 – 14
Euptychia saundersii Butler, 1867a: 500, pl. XL, fig. 17 (type locality: Ega [= Tefé]).
Euptychia saundersii – Butler 1868: 38; 1877: 120. — Kirby 1871: 55; 1879: 132. — Weymer 1911: 213. — Riley & Gabriel 1924: 52. — Gaede 1931: 464. — Forster 1964: 117.
Euptychia saundersi [sic] – D’Abrera 1988: 781.
Zischkaia saundersii – Robbins et al. 1996: 232. — Lamas & Grados [1997]: 58. — Lamas 2004: 223.
Type material examined
Lectotype (here designated)
BRAZIL • ♀; “ // Ega [Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil], U[pper]. Amazon[a]s [River]. H[enry]. W[alter]. Bates.// Godman-Salvin Coll[ection]. 1904. – 1. Euptychia saundersi [sic], Butl[er].// Euptychia saundersii Butler Monog [raph]./type// SYN-TYPE// saundersii/ ♀ Ega// BMNH(E) 1718073 //”; NHMUK.
Paralectotypes
BRAZIL • 1 ♂; “ // B.M. TYPE No. Rh. 3248 Euptychia saundersi [sic] ♂ Butl[er].// Pernambuco. [Brazil]. Pres[ented]. by Mrs Smith 45 – 70// Euptychia saundersii Butler Monog [raph].// Type/ Euptychia saundersii Butler ♂ //SYN-TYPE// Pernambuco[, Brazil]/ 45 70// BMNH(E): 1267094// NHMUK 010247986 //”; NHMUK • 1 ♀; “ // Pernambuco [, Brazil]. Pres[ented]. By Mrs Smith 45 – 70.// Pernambuco/ 45 70// BMNH(E) 1718070 //”; NHMUK.
Other material examined (13 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀)
BRAZIL – Maranhão • 1 ♂; Feira Nova do Maranhão, 26 km E of Fazenda Forquilha dos Brejos; [6°59′12.7”S 46°25′47.4”W]; 13–16 Apr. 2011; Mielke & Casagrande leg.; DZ-38159; DZUP. – Pará • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Santarém; [2°26′ S, 54°43′ W]; Oct. 1884; H.H. Smith leg.; BMNH(E)-1718071 to BMNH(E)-1718072; NHMUK. – Pernambuco • 1 ♂; PLT saundersii; BMNH(E)-1267094; NHMUK. – Rondônia • 1 ♂; Porto Velho, Caiçara; 150 m; 10 Sep. 2012; ZUEC • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding but 8 Oct. 2013; ZUEC. – Not located • 2 ♂♂; ‘Brazil’; ZSM.
PERU – Huánuco • 1 ♂; Cordillera del Sira; [9°25′ S, 74°45′ W]; 1380 m; Sep. 1987 – Aug. 1988; Exp. Universidad Viena leg.; MUSM-LEP-105654; MUSM. – Madre de Dios • 1 ♀; Parque Manu, Pakitza; [11°55′48″ S, 71°15′18″ W]; 340 m; 5 Oct. 1991; M.M. Casagrande leg.; MUSM-LEP-105657; MUSM • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding but 14 Oct. 1991; H. Lamas leg.; DZ-37029; DZUP • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding but 15 Oct. 1991; Mielke leg.; DZ-36969; DZUP • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding but 340–400 m; 13 Oct. 1991; M.M. Casagrande leg.; DZ-36649; DZUP • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding but 14 Oct. 1991; DZ-5580; DZUP • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding but 15 Oct. 1991; DZ-5579; DZUP • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding but 9 Oct. 1991; Mielke leg.; DZ-21221; DZUP • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding but 15 Oct. 1991; R.K. Robbins; DZ-36619; DZUP • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding but 400 m; 18 Oct. 1990; G. Lamas leg.; MUSM-LEP-105656; MUSM • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding but 14 Oct. 1990; R.K. Robbins leg.; MUSM-LEP-105655; MUSM.
Identification and taxonomy
Zischkaia saundersii is distinguished from other species in the “ saundersii clade” by the metallic silvery blue shading between the submedian line and the marginal line on the VHW. However, although not as prominent as in Z. saundersii, similar VHW shading, sometimes somewhat purplish, may be seen in the three new species described below. For this reason, in addition to color, which can fade over time, the following genitalic characters enable confident identification of this species with respect to the three other species in the “ saundersii clade” (see diagnosis of “ pacarus clade” for genitalic characters to distinguish Z. saundersii from species in that clade): 1) the ‘bulb’-like projection of the tegumen is rather small, pointing posteriorly (larger in Z. mielkeorum sp. nov. and Z. warreni sp. nov.); 2) the apical process of the valva is somewhat narrow and pointing upwards in lateral view (more or less straight in Z. mielkeorum sp. nov. and Z. warreni sp. nov.); the signa are long, extending almost the entire length of the corpus bursae (shorter in Z. mielkeorum sp. nov. and Z. warreni sp. nov.).
Euptychia saundersii was described by Butler (1867a) based on an unspecified number of specimens from Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil, in the collection of Bates, and an unstated locality in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Three likely syntypes were located at the NHMUK, based on the information provided in the original description. The illustration provided in the orginal description (Butler 1867a: pl. XL, fig. 17) clearly shows a specimen with a silvery blue shading between the VHW submedian line and marginal line. Furthermore, the description by Butler (1867a: 500) of Z. saundersii was also based on a specimen with these VHW markings: “Upper wings brown, with two fine and indistinct marginal lines: body grayish-brown, antennae rusty-brown. Lower wings paler, with a violet tinge, the apical area of the HW with a greenish or violet tinge, with two dark brown central lines, diverging near the FW costa, the distalmost [of these two lines] somewhat angled [curved] in the middle of the HW [should be the FW], with the margin narrowly darker, the marginal and submarginal lines narrow and dark brown; HW with five oval ocelli and rarely with one tiny apical [ocellus], the first and fifth the smallest, black, ringed with brown, surrounded by dark brown and with tiny silver pupils; body dark grey-brown”. The description and illustration closely match a female syntype from Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil (BMNH (E) 1718073), and because of the possibility that the type series contains several taxa, as discussed further below, we designate this specimen as the lectotype of Euptychia saundersii Butler, 1867 (lectotype designation). The syntype male from Pernambuco figured in Warren et al. (2018), which has the characteristic handwritten label “ Euptychia saundersii Butler Monog [raph].”, does not possess the VHW grayish shading of the lectotype. We examined the distal side of the valva of this syntype, which appears to be more or less straight, as in Z. mielkeorum sp. nov. and Z. warreni sp. nov. (see Fig. 5). Thus, the male syntype from Pernambuco is most likely not conspecific with the lectotype of Z. saundersii, and the taxonomic status of this specimen requires further investigation. If the male specimen from Pernambuco is correctly labeled, then the origin of the female syntype from Pernambuco is also questionable, given that this specimen does have silvery blue shading between the VHW submedian line and marginal line, as in the Amazonian lectotype. Clearly, reliably labeled material from Pernambuco is needed to clarify the presence of this species, or other Zischkaia taxa, in that region.
Variation
The size of the ocellus in VHW Rs-M 1 is variable, ranging from being almost absent to clearly visible.
Distribution (Fig. 14)
This species is reliably known from the Amazon basin, in the states of Rondônia, Pará and Maranhão, Brazil, and the departments of Huánuco and Madre de Dios, Peru. The apparently conflicting phenotypes of the two known specimens labeled as from Pernambuco, Brazil (discussed further above) makes the presence of this species in that region uncertain and requiring confirmation.
Remarks
A male specimen from Maranhão, Brazil (DZ 38.159) phenotypically resembles Z. saundersii from the Amazon basin except for the VHW metallic silvery blue shading between the submedian line and marginal line being somewhat paler. The genitalia of this male from Maranhão are identical to Z. saundersii from the Amazon basin, in particular in the apical process of the valva being somewhat narrow and pointing upwards in lateral view. This character separates Z. saundersii from two other closely related species (Z. mielkeorum sp. nov. and Z. warreni sp. nov.), so we regard this specimen from Maranhão as Z. saundersii in the absence of further information.
description: Published as part of Nakahara, Shinichi, Zacca, Thamara, Dias, Fernando M. S., Dolibaina, Diego R., Xiao, Lei, Espeland, Marianne, Casagrande, Mirna M., Mielke, Olaf H. H., Lamas, Gerardo, Huertas, Blanca, Kleckner, Kaylin & Willmott, Keith R., 2019, Revision of the poorly known Neotropical butterfly genus Zischkaia Forster, 1964 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), with descriptions of nine new species, pp. 1-67 in European Journal of Taxonomy 551 on pages 46-49, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2019.551, http://zenodo.org/record/3476676