Philaethria pygmalion subsp. pygmalion Fruhstorfer 1912
Creators: name: Constantino, Luis Miguel
name: Salazar, Julian A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nymphalidae
Philaethria
Philaethria pygmalion
Philaethria pygmalion pygmalion (fruhstorfer, 1912)

description: Philaethria pygmalion pygmalion (Fruhstorfer, 1912)
(Fig. 11)
Entomologische Rundschau 29(2): 14–15
= Metamandana dido pygmalion Fruhstorfer, 1912: 15, fig.3
= Philaethria dido pygmalion (Fruhstorfer, 1912)); Ackery & Smiles, 1976:173, pl. 1, fig.1.)
Type locality. Obidos, Brazil. Type: (BMNH): Holotype male: illustrated in Ackery & Smiles, 1976. pl 1. fig. 1.
Diagnosis. Forewing length 48–49 mm in males and 49–51 mm in females. P. pygmalion is easily separated from the other species of Philaethria by the dark brown inner postdiscal band on the ventral surface of the hind wing, similar to P. wernickei, but with the bone white medial postdiscal band very reduced. HW submarginal cellular spots diffuse and continuous. FW postmedial area reduced in size (larger in P. w e r ni c ke i). Postmedial, medial and discal area on the ventral surface of both wings light green in coloration. Subapical spot on FW small and reduced in size.
Haploid chromosome number: n=29 for material examined from Brazil (Pará, Amazonas, Matto Grosso) (Suoamalainen & Brown, 1984)
Male genitalia (Fig. 36): like P. wernickei but valvae with swollen arms with a distal head deflaeted. Saccus short and straight, vinculum stout, tegumen rounded distally with setae at the base of the uncus and the medial; aedeagus short and straight with the apex pointed.
Distribution and habitat. P. pygmalion is restricted to rainforest habitats between 100–300 m in the Amazon basin from Colombia (Amazonas), Venezuela (Amazonas) to central Brazil down the Amazon river. P. pygmalion pygmalion flies sympatrically with P. dido dido in dense forest.
Host plants: Passiflora coccinea, P. faroana, P. hexagonocarpa, P. mansoi (Passifloraceae) in Brazil (Benson et al., 1976). P. phaeocaula in Venezuela (Brown & Fernandez, 1985; Beccaloni et al., 2008)
Immature stages. Brown (1981) illustrates the fifth instar larva of P. pygmalion pygmalion. In this paper, the fifth instar larva of P. pygmalion metaensis n. ssp. from Villavicencio, Colombia is illustrated in color for the first time (Fig. 42 g-h). Egg- yellow, 1.5 mm high and 1.1 mm in diameter, with 20 vertical and 8 horizontal ridges, laid singly on tendrils, stipules and old leaves. Mature larva (Fig. 42 g-h) - body white with black irregular rings on dorsum and sides; base of each scoli with red spots fused together forming small red bands (in P. dido with orange spots). Scoli large and black (in P. dido orange with black tips); head capsule bright red with head scoli black. Prolegs on abdominal segments red (yellow in P. dido). Pupa - mottled brown and gray covered with warts; abdomen and thorax have keels; generally resembles a bird dropping.
Material examined. COLOMBIA: AMAZONAS: Araracuara, Rio Caquetá, 200m, W. Winhard leg. (WWC). VENEZUELA: AMAZONAS: Yavita, K. S. Brown leg. (KSB). BRAZIL: PARA: Obidos, 100 m (BMNH), Santarem, 100 m, K. S. Brown leg. (KSB), Porto Tromberas, 100 m, K. S. Brown leg. (KSB). AMAZONAS: Humaita, R. Madeira, K. S. Brown leg. (KSB). MATO GROSSO: Buriti, K. S. Brown leg. (KSB) (Suomalainen & Brown, 1984). 1 female, PERU: MADRE DE DIOS, Santuario Nacional Pampas del Heath, Rufugio Juliaca, 220 m, bosque de galería, 16-VI-1992, G. Lamas leg. (MHNUSM)
description: Published as part of Constantino, Luis Miguel & Salazar, Julian A., 2010, A review of the Philaethria dido species complex (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae) and description of three new sibling species from Colombia and Venezuela, pp. 1-27 in Zootaxa 2720 on page 11, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.199882