Rhamma arria Hewitson 1870
Creators: name: Prieto, Carlos
name: Vargas, Maria A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Lycaenidae
Rhamma
Rhamma arria

description: Rhamma arria (Hewitson, 1870)
(Figures 7, 8, 32, 44, 53, 65)
Thecla arria Hewitson, 1870: 213, 448, Plate LXXXV, figs. 729, 730; Draudt 1919–1924: 758, pl. 153f. Holotype examined. Thecla mirma Hewitson, 1870: 212, 444, Plate LXXXV, figs. 719, 718, 720. Holotype examined.
Rhamma arria Hewitson, 1870: Johnson 1992; Robbins 2004.
Rhamma mirma Hewitson, 1870: Johnson 1992; Robbins 2004.
Rhamma mishma (Hewitson, 1878). Misidentification in Johnson 1992: 111, fig. 139. Shapiroana aurifera Johnson, 1992: 151, figs. 68A, 163A. Image of the holotype examined. Shapiroana macphersoni Johnson, 1992: 152, figs. 68c, 163c. Image of the holotype examined. Paralustrus paccius Johnson, 1992: 158, figs. 72, 167.
Rhamma argentopicta Le Crom & Johnson, 1997: 7. Ph. XV, fig. 1C.
Type material. Holotype male, Ecuador, Hewitson coll., 79-69 Thecla arria. 1, /B.M Type, No. Rh 602,/ Type / B. M. (N. H.), Rhopalocera, No. v 1535, /Genitalia by K. Johnson, ix ’83. Deposited in BMNH.
Taxonomic history and remarks. With the exception of R. commodus, this is the most widely distributed species of the genus. After reviewing specimens from several geographic localities, comparing holotypes, and dissecting genitalia structures of specimens that could be identified as R. mirma, R. aurifera, and R. argentopicta, it is impossible to objectively assign most individuals to one of the published names; therefore, it is logical to treat this spectrum of phenotypes as variants of Rhamma arria.
Distribution and variability. Rhamma is widely distributed in Colombia, flying on the three mountain ranges from the south in Nariño to the northern Colombian mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía del Perijá. The food plant is Tibouchina semidecandra Cogn. (Melastomataceae), known popularly in Colombia as “siete cueros”; it is cultivated as an ornamental tree (Callaghan 2008).
Diagnosis. Males of R. arria are immediately identifiable by the dorsal forewing pattern that includes light blue scales only below vein CuA2 and an irregular ochre band across the ventral hindwing from the costa to vein CuA2.
Material examined (28♂, 13♀). CAUCA: 5♂, CP: Puracé, Pueblo, 2700 m, 21/08/07, C. Prieto; 5♀, CP: Puracé, Pueblo, 2700 m; 3♂, CP: Totoró, La horqueta, 2800 m, 16/06/2013, C. Prieto; 1♂, CP: San/der. De Quilichao, Los Tigres, 2500 m, 05/09/2009; 5♂, CP: PNN Munchique, 2600–2800 m, C. Prieto. VA L L E: 6♂, CP: Cali, K-18, San Antonio, 2100 m, C. Prieto; 1♂, 3♀, CP: PNN Farallones, Pico de Loro, 2800 m, 02/08/07, C. Prieto; 1♀, CP: Tenerife, Páramo los Dominguez, 3300 m, 21/07/2013, C. Prieto. MAGDALENA: 4♀, CP: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, San Lorenzo, 2700 m, 02/05/2014, C. Prieto. CESAR: 1♂, CP: Manaure, Sabana Rubia, 3000 m, 22/04/2015. GUAJIRA: 2♂, CP: Guajira, Villanueva, Serrania del Perijá, 2600 m, 23/12/2014, C. Prieto.
description: Published as part of Prieto, Carlos & Vargas, Maria A., 2016, Elfin butterflies of the genus Rhamma Johnson (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Theclinae): A review of the Colombian species, pp. 323-342 in Zootaxa 4093 (3) on pages 334-335, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4093.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/266589