Pintara heringi subsp. pieridoides
Creators: name: Li, Meng
name: Lu, Ke
name: Cui, Ying
name: Liu, Haiwei
name: Yang, Jinchu
name: Xue, Guoxi
name: Wang, Qiuling
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Hesperiidae
Pintara
Pintara heringi
Pintara heringi pieridoides (liu &amp; gu, 1994)

description: Pintara heringi pieridoides (Liu & Gu, 1994)
(Fig. 2: A, Fig. 3)
Abraximorpha pieridoides Liu & Gu, 1994, In Chou 1994: 773, 707, fig. 1. Type locality: Hainan, China; Gu & Chen 1997: 305; Yuan et al. 2015: 182.
Albiphasma pieridoides: Huang et al. 2016: 151; Wu & Hsu 2017: 1329.
The taxon pieridoides is rather rare in nature. Until now, the holotype was the only known male specimen, of which hand drawings of the male genitalia were provided in the original description (Chou 1994: 773, fig. 84) and in Huang et al. (2016: 153, fig. 34). Here we illustrate a second male specimen of pieridoides (Fig. 2: A, Fig. 3) and compare its morphological characters to those of heringi (Fig. 2: B, Fig. 2: C, Fig. 4).
Although pieridoides and heringi are proven to be conspecific by the COI gene sequences, the differences in wing patterns of the two taxa should not be ignored. In both sexes of pieridoides (Fig. 2: A; Chou 1994: 707, fig. 1 for male; Wu & Hsu 2017: 1331, fig. 13 for female), the ground color of the wings and the veins of the hind wing are white, while in heringi, the ground color and veins of the wings in male (Fig. 2: B; Fig. 2: C; Huang et al. 2016: figs. 1–4; Wu & Hsu 2017: 1331, fig. 11, 12) and female (Chou 1994: 707, fig. 2; Jiang et al. 2001: 132, fig. 26-445; Huang et al. 2016: figs. 5, 6) are dark brown. In pieridoides, the forewing is mostly white except for some dark stains, which, in heringi, are developed and divide the reduced white stripes into spots of different sizes; the series of elongate subapical spots is more developed in pieridoides than in heringi. Spots on the hind wing are separated in pieridoides but closely arranged in heringi.
Differences in male genitalia between the two taxa can be observed as follows: in lateral view, the middle branch at distal valva is slightly longer and bent upward in pieridoides, with the ventral margin smooth (Fig. 3: C), while in heringi, it is shorter, straight, decorated with sawteeth ventrally (Fig. 4: C); in lateral view, the distal part of aedeagus is longer in pieridoides (Fig. 3: J); the triangular lobe at left side of distal aedeagus is more developed in heringi (Fig. 4: H).
In addition, pieridoides is endemic to Hainan, while heringi is known from Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian (Wu & Hsu 2017). The record of heringi from Hainan by Chou (1994: 707) and Yuan et al. (2015) is erroneous and should be rejected. Therefore, here we treat pieridoides as a subspecies of heringi.
The specimen of ‘ heringi’ from central Vietnam illustrated by Devyatkin (2012: fig. 1, 2) exhibits a combination of the forewing of Pintara heringi heringi and the hind wing of P. heringi pieridoides, as pointed out by Huang et al. (2016: 150). The taxonomic status of this form requires further study.
description: Published as part of Li, Meng, Lu, Ke, Cui, Ying, Liu, Haiwei, Yang, Jinchu, Xue, Guoxi & Wang, Qiuling, 2024, Molecular data and morphological characters clarify the taxonomic status of Pintara heringi pieridoides (Liu & Gu, 1994) (Hesperiidae, Pyrginae), pp. 145-150 in Zootaxa 5419 (1) on pages 149-150, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5419.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/10782058