Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

A New Species of the Anchisiades Group of Heraclides from Venezuela (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

1986; BioOne; Volume: 94; Linguagem: Inglês

1937-2361

Kurt E. Johnson, Rick Rozycki,

Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies

-Heraclides matusiki, new species, is described from a unique specimen collected in Sucre State, Venezuela, in 1912, based on an analysis of wing and genitalic characters of the Heraclides anchisiades species group. With the aid of David Matusik (Field Museum of Natural History), we have been surveying incorporated and unincorporated Neotropical Papilionidae specimens at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) with particular emphasis on locating as yet undescribed taxa important as additions to this well-known butterfly group. Simultaneous with recent ecological changes influencing significant faunal extinctions in the Neotropical Realm (Brown, 1982, 1984) synoptic knowledge of terminal taxa is becoming increasingly important to current methods of systematics and biogeography. Important to this consideration is that undescribed taxa are still evident within poorly studied early collections deposited in major museums. Such depositions may represent the only extant specimens of such taxa (Riitimeyer, 1969; Johnson, Rozycki and Matusik, 1985, 1986). Initial contributions from the above mentioned survey include recognition of the species status and previously unrec ognized male of Pterourus diaphora (Staudinger) (Johnson, Rozycki and Matusik, 198 5) and description of the little-known female of Pterourus xanthopleura (Godman & Salvin) (Johnson, Rozycki and Matusik, 1986). Interestingly, both of these are represented solely by specimens in European or United States museums from samples collected prior to 1920. In 1984, among unincorporated New York Zoological Society material at the AMNH, we discovered a specimen (Fig. 1 A, B) taken in 1912 at Caripito, Venezuela, which though clearly representative of the anchisiades Group of Heraclides (sensu Munroe, 1960; Hancock, 1983), differed notably in wing characters from any named taxon of that group. When genitalic dissection further confirmed the uniqueness of the specimen we contacted other lepidopterists studying Papilionidae as well as curators at major museums, asking their opinion of the specimen and that they search for additional examples. The breadth of response attested to the unusualness of the Caripito specimen and also emphasized the need for a taxonomic study of the an chisiades Group such as is presented below. Although all lepidopterists consulted agreed upon the uniqueness of the Caripito specimen, there were widely different opinions on its status and apparent affinities. Dr. Keith S. Brown (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil), who is preparing a synonymic list of This content downloaded from 157.55.39.123 on Mon, 18 Jul 2016 04:22:41 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 384 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Vol. 94(3)