Chrysoritis whitei (Dickson 1994), 2023

Heath, Alan, 2023, Chrysoritis Butler (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Aphnaeinae) - Part III: An integrative taxonomic revision, Metamorphosis 34 (1), pp. 11-28 : 22-23

Chrysoritis whitei (Dickson 1994) , stat. rev.

Poecilmitis whitei Dickson 1994: 215 .

Holotype: NHM, London. Type locality: Nr. Port Elizabeth .

MPT: slopes and even flat ground in coastal dune terrain; only slightly above sea level, see Heath & Fisher (2010). Host ant: Crem. peringueyi . Juvenile stages illustrated (as Poecilmitis thysbe ) in Clark & Dickson (1971: 194).

Taxonomy: Previously assigned as C. thysbe whitei (n = 3), it groups clearly with C. pyramus (n = 4) in the COI tree (100% support) and not with C. thysbe . In the CAD tree, it also occurs in a well supported clade (72%) with the same group of species it clusters with in the COI tree ( C. endymion , C. rileyi and C. pyramus ). Given its similarity to C. thysbe in facies and habitat, the phylogenetic placement of C. whitei as sister to C. pyramus was surprising, furthermore because C. pyramus occurs in the alpine zones on mountain summits 250 km inland from the locations known for C. whitei , two mountain ranges away, and there are no records of C. whitei for any of the mountain ranges close to Port Elizabeth. Assignment as a subspecies of C. pyramus was considered but C. whitei occurs in an entirely different habitat from the former. C. whitei’s six known localities occur just above sea level in sandy duneveld, where it specifically inhabits the dunes about 1 km inland of the coast, avoiding the coastal dunes. Chrysoritis thysbe whitei is here reassigned as C. whitei stat. rev.

A melanistic aberration assumed to be this taxon but resembling C. zwartbergae was taken by S. Collins ( Fig. 12 ) from the C. whitei locality in November 2019. Its identification awaits molecular confirmation; a second similar specimen has since been seen and photographed.

Conservation status: EN.

Figures

Figure 12 – C. whitei aberration (photo: S. Collins).