Chrysoritis chrysaor subsp. natalensis Heath, 2023

Heath, Alan, 2023, Chrysoritis Butler (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Aphnaeinae) - Part III: An integrative taxonomic revision, Metamorphosis 34 (1), pp. 11-28 : 14-15

C. chrysaor natalensis (van Son 1966) stat nov.

Poecilmitis natalensis van Son 1966: 84 .

Holotype: Ditsong NM. Type locality: Howick , Natal .

Subspecies natalensis is geographically separated from nominate chrysaor , having a coastal or near coastal distribution along the Wild Coast from Morgans Bay near East London through the Transkei (Bashee River and Port St Johns) to the KZN south coast, and thence inland to the Karkloof and Ngoye Forest areas. Juvenile stages as for nominate chrysaor . Host ant: Crem. liengmei . Host plant of natalensis : larvae commonly utilise Osteospermum moniliferum ; however, adults of both sexes have been recorded frequenting Vachellia karoo at Ongoye, KZN (S. E. Woodhall pers. comm.). This could be for nectaring purposes. Vachellia has never been confirmed as a host for natalensis larvae, although inland it is a widespread host plant of nominate chrysaor eastern population.

Compared to the facies of nominate chrysaor the typical characteristics of natalensis consist mainly of: 1) a more prominent tornal lobe and tail; 2) the presence of a dorsal hind wing cell marking and 3) usually, a more caudalelongated hind wing in the male; 4) underside hind wing markings more conspicuous; 5) the diffuse postdiscal brown patch in spaces 3–4 of the hind wing verso (present in many chrysaor ) is more extensive, forming a dark brown band extending to space 2 in both sexes. However, C. c. natalensis wing facies can be variable, e.g., sample T745 from Port Shepstone has a more rounded outer margin to its hind wings, whereas sample T727 from Umtamvuna N.Res has its outer margin straighter and elongated as in the natalensis holotype. Variations in the size of dorsal black markings may be attributed to environmental differences in micro habitat (e.g., warmer/wetter vs. cooler/drier, S. E. Woodhall, pers. comm.). The identification of most extant records of natalensis are based solely on wing facies; these identifications are usually in agreement with the geography and local associated vegetation.

Taxonomy: C. chrysaor natalensis appears to be allopatric in relation to the nominate subspecies; it has 96% support and is sister to the remainder of C. chrysaor samples in the COI tree. The natalensis facies differ from nominate chrysaor in the characteristics described above, but partial overlap with C. chrysaor may occur in one or more of these characters. As a result, some C. c. chrysaor might be misidentified as natalensis and vice versa. Thus, C. natalensis is here synonymised as Chrysoritis chrysaor natalensis stat. nov.

Conservation status: LC.