The taxonomic identity of Heliconius melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata Zikán (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Abstract

The taxonomic identity of the butterfly Heliconius melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata Zikán, 1937 (Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae) is discussed based on the discovery of the specimen based on which this name was assigned. The specimen is not a variation of Eueides tales surdus Stichel, 1903, as previously stated, but is in fact a variation of H. melpomene f. pyritosa, which is a synonym of Heliconius erato amalfreda Riffarth, 1901.

Eueides; Heliconiini; Heliconius erato

In 1937, J.F. Zikán described seven new Heliconiini forms from Brazil and Peru, including Heliconius melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata Zikán, 1937, based on a single specimen from Mr. Ferdinand Dissmann's collection ( Zikán, 1937). Subsequently, Mielke and Casagrande (1987), in an effort to locate all lepidopteran types deposited in Brazilian museums, found what they believed to be the individual based on which H. melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata had been described, in the Zikán collection (Fundação e Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro). This specimen, illustrated by Mielke and Casagrande (1987) and Warren et al. (2013), was identified as Eueides tales surdus Stichel, 1903 by Lamas (2004). In 2011, the F. Dissmann collection was donated to the Campinas State University (Unicamp). The collection exceeds 2500 butterfly specimens that come from the all over the world, and includes 11 alleged type specimens, among them six specimens of Heliconius Kluk, 1780. One of these individuals is clearly labeled as the "holotype" of Heliconius melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata ( Fig. 1). The collection also includes the two "cotypes" of Heliconius melpomene f. pyritosa Zikán, 1937 mentioned by Zikán in the same publication. The specimen here figured as H. melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata ( Fig. 1) clearly fits the description provided by Zikán (1937), including the "sooty" nature of the yellow markings in the forewing, not present in the specimen figured by Mielke and Casagrande (1987). In addition, the double series of submarginal white dots, clearly visible in the specimen illustrated by Mielke and Casagrande (1987), was not mentioned in the original description of Zikán (1937). It is worth mentioning that J.F. Zikán was a great connoisseur of butterflies, and it is unlikely that he would have confused two such different genera of Neotropical butterflies as Eueides Hübner, 1816 and Heliconius. Based on the present evidence, it is clear that the specimen used by Zikán (1937) to describe H. melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata is the one figured here ( Fig. 1). Therefore, H. melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata is not a variation of Eueides tales surdus, but alternatively, just a variation of H. melpomene f. pyritosa, which is a synonym of Heliconius erato amalfreda Riffarth, 1901. Finally, although this specimen has no value as a name bearing type (this is an infrasubspecific name; ICZN, 1999, Article 10.2), this publication is important both from an historical point of view (correcting a perfectly excusable mistake in the literature), and also by clarifying the identity of a local variation of an important and well-studied species of Heliconius.

Fig. 1. Male individual (with labels) described under the name Heliconius melpomene f. pyritosa var. fumigata Zikán, 1937.

Additional information: Labels with the individual are shown in Fig. 1: The male individual is deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (ZUEC), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, with the following four labels (separated by transverse bars):/Holotype/Helicon. melpomene H.T. f. pyritosa. ♂Zik. Var. fumigata/Amazonas Acré [sic]? 1935/♂/

Acknowledgments

To Keith R. Willmott, Robert K. Robbins and Gerardo Lamas, who made helpful comments on the manuscript. To the CNPq (302585/2011-7) for a fellowship. Marcio Uehara-Prado and Danilo B. Ribeiro carefully organized the collection and separated the alleged type specimens. This publication is part of the RedeLep 'Rede Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Lepidópteros' SISBIOTA-Brasil/CNPq (563332/2010-7) and BIOTAFAPESP program (11/50225-3). I also would like to thank the International Paper: Brazil (and to Mr. Luis Fernando da Silva) for the donation of the "Ferdinand Dissmann collection", and for safely storing this important collection for more than 10 years before its donation to Unicamp.

References

• ICZN, 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Fourth edition. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London.
• Lamas, G., 2004. Nymphalidae. Heliconiinae. In: Lamas, G., Heppner, J.B. (Eds.), Checklist: Part 4A. Hesperioidea - Papilionoidea, Atlas of Neotropical Lepi- doptera. Association for Tropical Lepidoptera/Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, pp. 1-428.
• Mielke, O.H.H., Casagrande, M.M., 1987. Sobre os tipos de Lepidoptera deposita- dos em museus brasileiros. XI. Nymphalidae (Nymphalinae) descritos por José Francisco Zikán. Rev. Bras. Entomol. 31, 399-403.
• Warren, A.D., Davis, K.J., Stangeland, E.M., Pelham, J.P., Grishin, N.V., 2013. Illustrated Lists of American Butterflies, Available at: http://www.butterflies ofamerica.com/ (accessed 7.11.14).
  » http://www.butterflies ofamerica.com/
• Zikán, J.F., 1937. Neue Nymphaliden-Arten und -Formen aus Brasilien. Entomol. Rundsch. 54, 328-331.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Apr-Jun 2015

History

• Received
  07 Nov 2014
• Reviewed
  04 Feb 2015
• Accepted
  09 Apr 2015