Castnia affinis Rothschild 1919
Creators: name: Worthy, Robert
name: González, Jorge M.
name: Zilli, Alberto
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Castniidae
Castnia
Castnia affinis

description: Taxonomic catalogue affinis Rothschild, 1919
(Figs. 9E–G)
“ Castnia (Amauta) papilionaris affinis, subsp. nov. ” Rothschild, 1919, Novitates zoologicae 26 (1): 3.
Type material: Described from eight syntypes as follows: 3♂♂, 1♀ Yahuarmayo, S. E. Peru, 1,200 ft., February– March 1912, (H. and C. Watkins) (figs. 9F, G); 1♂ Pozuzo, Huánuco [now in Pasco department (Gerardo Lamas pers. comm.)], 800– 1,000 m. = 2,600 –3,250 ft. (W. Hoffmanns); 2♀♀ Chanchamayo, Peru; 1♂ Songo, Bolivia (Garlepp) (fig. 9E). At the time of description all syntypes were in the collection of Lionel Walter Rothschild (1868–1937), they are now in NHMUK.
Lectotype designation: After examining the syntypes it appears that two different subspecies are represented in the syntypic series. Only the specimens from Bolivia and Yahuarmayo, which is in Puno department, south-east Peru, appear to be different, the rest are referable to ssp. papilionaris (= velutina). The male syntype from Songo, Bolivia collected by Otto (1864–1959) and Gustav Garlepp (1862–1907) (fig. 9E) best shows the differentiating features of this subspecies and is hereby designated as lectotype to fix it as the sole name-bearing type of Castnia (Amauta) papilionaris affinis Rothschild, 1919, hereafter Amauta papilionaris lionela Lamas, 1995. All other syntypes become paralectotypes.
Type locality: This is now fixed by the lectotype designation as Songo, Bolivia. This refers to the Rio Zongo in La Paz department, Bolivia. It is not possible to pinpoint the locality any more precisely.
Taxonomic status: The name is a junior primary homonym of Castnia affinis Houlbert, 1917 and was replaced by Amauta papilionaris lionela Lamas, 1995, which is now the valid name for the taxon. It is here considered to be a weakly defined subspecies of A. papilionaris (Walker, [1865]), closest to the Central American populations known as ssp. amethystina, the two possibly forming a so-called polytopic subspecies (cf. Mayr 1963, 1969; Zilli 1996).
Male genitalia: (Fig. 4F) Uncus is simple, having a wide and round but almost pointed apex. Gnathos slightly sclerotised, bifid anteriad. Cucullus and valvula almost quadrate, and slightly rounded apically. Valva short and wide. Ventral margin of valva sharply cut. Sacculus projected and continues with the arms of the saccus. Phallus curved with distal section three times the length of coecum, narrowed beyond their junction, becoming straight after, with subterminal portion enlarged. Aedeagus contortion is incomplete. Apex of phallus with a terminal, sclerotised section. Vesica opens sinistrally and proximad to sclerotised end of phallus.
Distribution: This subspecies seems to be restricted to Bolivia, recorded from La Paz and Cochabamba departments, and south-eastern Peru, currently only confirmed from Puno and Cuzco departments (Fig. 14).
Discussion: Rothschild (1919) originally described the subspecies by stating: “This form is nearest to velutina, but the ♀♀ have the bands almost as broad as in Westwood’s figure of papilionaris papilionaris ”. Unfortunately, Westwood’s (1877) figure (Fig. 8C) is highly stylised and in terms of the width of the postmedian bands bears little resemblance to the holotype of papilionaris papilionaris (Fig. 8D). Having studied the type series of affinis, the width of the forewing pale yellow band appears to be widest in the Bolivian specimens and marginally less wide in specimens from Puno, Peru. A large series from Huánuco, Peru (Figs. 9C, D) appears to be identical to specimens from Ecuador, which have traditionally been assigned to ssp. velutina (now synonymised with p. papilionaris, see below). The paralectotypes from Chanchamayo, which is in Junín, Peru, are similar to Huánuco specimens, but some specimens show a slight broadening of the bands, which could suggest a cline. The hindwing blue band is of variable width in all populations, but it does seem to be narrower in the most southerly representatives of affinis. We therefore reserve the name lionela for specimens of A. papilionaris from Bolivia and southern Peru. The phenotype is in fact analogous to the northernmost subspecies of papilionaris – amethystina. Specimens examined from San Martín, Huánuco and Junín departments in Peru are referable to ssp. papilionaris, those from Puno and Cuzco to ssp. lionela. We have not seen specimens from other departments in southern Peru so cannot comment on these.
Material examined: 12 males and 1 female were examined for this study. As well as the former syntypes, the following specimens were examined: BOLIVIA: 1♂ Songo, (Garlepp) (NMHUK); 1♂ Rurrenabaque, XII- 2001 (DC); 1♂ Rio Palmar, Cochabamba, 1100 m (MZ). PERU: 1♂ Peru (MGCL); 1♂ Yahuarmayo, S. E. Peru, 1,200 ft., February–March 1912, (H. and C. Watkins) (NMHUK); 1♂ Chontachaca, Rio Pilcopata, Cuzco, 850m, IV-1996 (MB); 1♂ Chontachaca, Rio Pilcopata, Cuzco, XI -2016; 1♂ Rio Marcapata, Cuzco, XII-2016 (RW). As noted above, for comparison, we also examined a large series of A. p. papilionaris from Huánuco, Peru, and 4 males and 6 females from Chanchamayo, including the paralectotypes of affinis from these localities which we do not consider correspond to the concept of the taxon as restricted herein.
description: Published as part of Worthy, Robert, González, Jorge M. & Zilli, Alberto, 2022, A review of the genera Amauta Houlbert, 1918 and Divana J. Y. Miller, 1982 (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) with description of a new genus, pp. 301-342 in Zootaxa 5194 (3) on pages 315-317, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5194.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7154442