Chrysoritis pan ( Pennington 1962 )

Heath, Alan, 2023, Chrysoritis Butler (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Aphnaeinae) - Part III: An integrative taxonomic revision, Metamorphosis 34 (1), pp. 11-28 : 18

Chrysoritis pan ( Pennington 1962)

Poecilmitis pan Pennington 1962: 273 .

Holotype: Ditsong NM. Type locality: Platrug Farm , Malmesbury Distr .

The most widespread species in the thysbe clade; the name pan formerly included C. williami and C. lysander (both as C. pan lysander ) and C. pan henningi . Juvenile stages Fig. 6 and (misidentified as Poecilmitis lysander ) in Clark & Dickson, 1971:198.

MPT: low to moderate elevation gullies and similar terrain. Host ant: Crem. peringueyi , in coastal regions from Leipoldtville northwards as far as the provincial border but for southern and inland populations the host ant is recorded as Crem. liengmei (e.g., Malmesbury Distr.; Vanrhyn’s Pass; Huis River Pass; Gamka Mountain N. R.). Both ant species have been recorded as hosts at Leipoldtville. In the COI tree, C. pan is rendered paraphyletic by C. aridus , possibly due to ILS; the clade of samples from both species has 75% bootstrap support and forms the sister to C. williami .

Conservation status: LC.

Taxonomy:

Chrysoritis pan pan Cape Town to Leipoldtville and intervening non-arid coastal region. The forewing cell spot is prominent and always discrete; the forewing borders and cilia are black; the hind wing verso is plain or weakly marked. Host ant: Crem. liengmei . Our mtDNA dataset for specimens resembling C. pan pan includes samples from Yzerfontein (56 km from Platrug Farm [type locality]), Leipoldtville and Lamberts Bay. Chrysoritis pan pan is sympatric with C. pan atlantica in the area from Leipoldtville to Lambert’s Bay. In this and surrounding areas, they intermingle and merge, resulting in intermediate forms.

Figures

Figure 6 – C. pan final instar (Lamberts Bay).