12. Athis palatinus staudingeri (H. Druce, 1896)

(Figs. 6, 10F, 10G, 12C)

Castnia staudingeri H. Druce, 1896; Druce, 1896. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 18(103), p. 28.

Aciloa staudingeri; Houlbert, 1918. Étud. Lép. Comp. 15, pp. 64, 459, 692, 727, fig. 156.

Athis staudingeri; Miller, 1995, in Heppner. Castnioidea: Castniidae: Castniinae, Checklist part 2, Atlas Neo. Lep., p. 134. Athis palatinus staudingeri; Lamas, 1995. Revta. Per. Ent. 37, p. 77.

General comments. The northernmost taxon of the “ palatinus ” complex. Described by Druce (1896) as Castnia staudingeri Druce, 1896 based on specimens collected in Chiriquí. Houlbert (1918) included it in Aciloa Houlbert, 1918, but Miller (1986) placed it in Athis, as a subspecies of Athis palatinus (Cramer, 1777) . Later, Miller (1995) considered staudingeri a valid species, but Lamas (1995) included it as a subspecies of A. palatinus .

Athis palatinus staudingeri is a rare taxon that is poorly represented in entomological collections. Until the first decade of the 21st century, specimens were only known from Panama, but Vinciguerra (2011) and Vinciguerra & González (2011) reported it for the first time for Costa Rica (Corcovado), extending its distribution in Central America.

The wing pattern differs from other subspecies of Athis palatinus by having a slightly more orange base-color both on the fore- and hindwing. Athis p. staudingeri shows some sexual dimorphism: (i) females are normally larger than males; (ii) female forewings have a marked curvature at the outer margin; (iii) the subapical, postdiscal and costal spots in the female forewing are larger than in the male; (iv) the spots of the postdiscal band of the hindwing are smaller in males.

Ecology and behavior. No ecological or behavioral information on this subspecies is known. It has been observed in the province of Puntarenas from January to May. Adults fly on sunny days along paths or openings in the forest; males are territorial. On one occasion a male was seen feeding on an unidentified flower (Fig. 10G) (Chantelle Taylor & Ted Armstrong, pers. comm.). The host plant of A. p. staudingeri is unknown but considering the hosts of other species or subspecies in the palatinus complex, it is probably a bromeliad ( Bromeliaceae) (see Moss 1945; Miller 1986; González & Fernández-Yépez 1992; García-Díaz et al. 2020, 2022; González et al. 2021; García-Díaz 2022b).

Distribution and biogeography. Athis palatinus staudingeri is only known from a few localities in Costa Rica and Panama. In Costa Rica, it has only been registered within the cantons of Aguirre, Golfito, and Osa, in the province of Puntarenas, localities that belong to the Puntarenas-Chiriquí province of the Pacific dominion in the Brazilian subregion (Morrone et al. 2022).