Damas clavus ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1869 ),

Zhang, Jing, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui, Song, Leina & Grishin, Nick V., 2025, Advancing butterfly systematics through genomic analysis, The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey 12 (5), pp. 1-201 : 188-189

Species delimitation and synonymy in the Damas clavus ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1869) complex

Having achieved an objective definition of all names in the Damas clavus ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1869) complex and a better understanding of their type localities, we now proceed with the species delimitation. Genomic analysis of sequenced specimens that included primary types of nearly all available names (except Hesperia crataea Hewitson, 1876 (type locality in Brazil: Bahia) and Damas woldi Shuey, 2024 (type locality in French Guiana)) reveals that the complex consists of several species ( Fig. 152 ). Damas clavus ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1869) (type locality in Southeast or South Brazil, lectotype sequenced as NVG-15036D06) is most distantly related to others ( Fig. 152 cyan). Sequenced specimens from Bahia, Brazil, where the lectotype of Hesperia crataea Hewitson, 1876 was collected, are placed within this species. Therefore, we maintain the synonymy of Hesperia crataea Hewitson, 1876 with D. clavus . However, all other taxa currently regarded as synonyms of D. clavus are either distinct species or synonyms of each other. Guided by the name priority, Goniloba corope Herrich-Schäffer, 1869 (type locality in the Amazonian region, lectotype sequenced as NVG-15035A04), Proteides cervus Möschler, 1877 (type locality in Suriname, lectotype sequenced as NVG-15036F09), and Hesperia angulis Plötz, 1886 (type locality in Panama: Panama, neotype sequenced as NVG-23122H05) are genetically differentiated from D. clavus and each other at the species level (Fig. 152), e.g., COI barcodes of the closest species pair P. cervus and H. angulis differ by 3.5% (23 bp). Therefore, we propose that Damas corope (Herrich-Schäffer, 1869), stat. rest., Damas cervus (Möschler, 1877), stat. rest., and Damas angulis (Plötz, 1886), stat. rest. are species-level taxa distinct from Damas clavus (Herrich-Schäffer, 1869).

We find that the lectotype of D. corope belongs to a clade with a wide range in the Amazonian region from Guyana and Suriname to Rondônia in Brazil and Madre de Dios in Peru (Fig. 152 blue). To show identification of D. corope and differences between species, we illustrate segments of the mitochondrial genome alignment of several Damas taxa, including their lectotypes (Fig. 153, the lectotype of D. corope is labeled in red font). Although we have not yet sequenced the holotype of Damas woldi and specimens from French Guiana, we hypothesize that they may belong to this clade due to phenotypic similarity and distribution. Therefore, we tentatively regard Damas woldi Shuey, 2024, syn. nov. as a junior subjective synonym of Damas corope (Herrich-Schäffer, 1869), stat. rest.

Specimens from Chiriquí, Panama, form a tight subclade within D. angulis in the nuclear genome tree and are genetically differentiated from others to warrant at least a subspecies status (Fig. 152 purple clade); e.g., their COI barcodes differ by 1.5% (10 bp). Therefore, we propose that Proteides ampyx Mabille, 1891 (type locality in Panama: Chiriquí, lectotype sequenced as NVG- 15036D05) is a subspecies of Damas angulis (Plötz, 1886), stat. rest.: Damas angulis ampyx (Mabille, 1891), stat. nov. The lectotype of Thracides polles Godman, 1901 (type locality in Panama: Chiriquí, sequenced as NVG-15036E01) and, to our surprise, the lectotype of Perichares tripuncta Draudt, 1923 (type locality stated as South Brazil on the label, sequenced as NVG-18093C07) group closely with the lectotype of D. angulis ampyx, and therefore, we regard the two former taxa as junior subjective synonyms of the latter, a new placement of synonyms. This result implies that the lectotype of P. tripuncta has been mislabeled and was most likely collected in Chiriquí, Panama. Note the angle-shaped hyaline spot in the forewing cell CuA1-CuA2 and a long discal cell hyaline dash characteristic of Panamanian specimens in the lectotype of P. tripuncta: images of this specimen photographed by E. Brockmann are shown on the Butterflies of America website (Warren et al. 2024). Furthermore, we find three species-level clades that do not have available names associated with them and, therefore, represent new species, which are described next.

Figures

Fig. 152. Phylogenetic trees of Damas inferred from protein-coding regions in: a) the nuclear genome (autosomes), b) the mitochondrial genome. Different taxa are shown in different colors: D. honduras sp. n. (green), D. angulis stat. rest. (purple), D. kenos sp. n. (orange), D. cervus stat. rest. (olive), D. corope stat. rest. (blue), D. lavandas sp. n. (red), and D. clavus (cyan). Primary type specimens are labeled in magenta.