Polycaena lama Leech
Creators: name: Huang, Hao
name: Li, Yu-Fei
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Lycaenidae
Polycaena
Polycaena lama

description: Polycaena lama Leech, [1893]
(Figs. 9–13, 41, 50, 59, 66, 73, 84)
Polycaena lama Leech, [1893]: 294, specimens from “How-kow (Yajiang), Pu-tsu-fong (nearby current Moxi of Luding), Wassu-kow (Wasigou)” and “high plateau to the north of Ta-chien-lu (Kangding)”, pl. 28, figs. 13 ♂ & 15 ♀, TL not specified; South, 1902: 109, specimens from “Ta-chien-lu”, “Wa-ssu-kow”, “Pu-tsu-fong”; Stichel, 1928: 21, key to species, 24, discussion on forms; Forster, 1951: 62, record from Batang; D’Abrera, 1993: 393, figs. for ♂ & ♀♀ from “Ta Tisen Lu” (Kangding).
Polycaena lama forma aestivalis Oberthür, 1903: 268, TL not mentioned. Infrasubspecific
Hyporion lama: Seitz, 1909: 253, pl. 89a; Draeseke, 1925: 220, records from “Sump” (Songpan) and “Kwan” (Guanxian).
Material examined. CHINA: Sichuan: 1♂, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yajiang County, east of Jianzi-wan Pass, ca 3800 m, 8.VII.2012, Song-Yun Lang leg.; 3♂♂, Ganzi, Litang County, ca 4000 m, 18.VII.2000, Hao Huang leg.; 1♀, Ganzi, Kangding County, Mugeco, 3700 m, 17.VII.1992, Hao Huang leg.
Nomenclature. Both Leech (1893) and South (1902) mentioned some specimens from “Dshachar mountains” in “eastern Thibet” (current NE Qinghai) under their items of Polycaena lama. However, the character that “the submarginal band of reddish lunules broader” than in “ P. princeps ” and “continued almost to costa of primaries (forewings)” stated in the original description (Leech, [1893]) does not apply to these specimens from Qinghai, thus these historical specimens from Qinghai, actually belonging to P. kansuensis (discussed below), cannot be included in the syntype series of P. lama.
Oberthür (1903) used “var.” for the names in the same category as the specific name but used “forma” for the names in the subordinate category under the category of “var.”; this action clearly indicates that Oberthür (1903) used “var.” in sense of the current subspecies concept but “forma” as a subordinate name under subspecies. Thus, the content of the work by Oberthür (1903) unambiguously reveals that the name, aestivalis was proposed for an infrasubspecific entity. According to Article 45.6.1 of ICZN, the name, aestivalis is infrasubspecific and invalid.
Identification. Specimens from Yajiang (one of the syntype localities), Kangding (another syntype locality) and Litang agree with the original figures (Leech, [1893]; reproduced here as figs. 9–10) in all the details of the wing-pattern.
Wing-pattern. The following combination of characters found in original figures is considered important in distinguishing this species from similar species: both wings of male have a continuous wide reddish submarginal band on upper side; hindwing upper side of both sexes has postdiscal spots paler than submarginal band and somewhat whitish; discocellular cell of hindwing underside in both sexes has a black spot in costal half and a radial black streak in anal half (this character is only shared with P. kansuensis, P. wangjiaqii sp. n. and P. sejila sp. n.).
Male genitalia. Uncus in dorsal view has no branch. Fenestrula between tegumen and scaphium is restricted to lateral sides and is not present at middle. Valva has a ventral branch (not found in any other species of Polycaena). Ampulla of valva is mostly overlapped by harpe. Harpe of valva possesses an inner process rising from the sacculus, the tip of which is not beyond the border of the valva. Posterior branches of central plate are broad and rounded at the tip in dorsal view, and extremely broadened at tip and hooked at ventral margin in lateral view. Juxta is rather big, with dorsal part extending more anteriorly than posteriorly in lateral view. Phallus in lateral view is simply pointed at the ventral apex, without a dorsal corner. Coecum penis in dorsal view is not expanded laterally.
Distribution. Western Sichuan (Guanxian, Kangding, Luding, Yajiang, Litang). Draeseke’s (1925) record from Songpan, northern Sichuan probably belongs to P. kansuensis sakaii Sugiyama, 2015.
description: Published as part of Huang, Hao & Li, Yu-Fei, 2016, Notes on the genus Polycaena Staudinger (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) with descriptions of two new species from China, pp. 575-590 in Zootaxa 4105 (6) on page 576, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4105.6.4, http://zenodo.org/record/258394