Chrysoritis thysbe (Linnaeus 1764)

Heath, Alan, 2023, Chrysoritis Butler (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Aphnaeinae) - Part III: An integrative taxonomic revision, Metamorphosis 34 (1), pp. 11-28 : 21-22

Chrysoritis thysbe (Linnaeus 1764) .

Papilio thysbe (Linnaeus 1764: 330) .

Lectotype: Swedish NHM. Type locality: Cap. Bonae Spei (Cape Peninsula) .

Host ants Crem. peringueyi . MPT: hilltops and/or prominences.

Taxonomy: Monophyletic in the COI tree (100% support, 93% in Total Dataset tree). Juvenile stages illustrated here in Fig. 10 ; see also HEA23: Figs. 1A & 2 (genitalia), and Figs. 10 & 11 (larval epidermal setae and larvae with ants, respectively).

This species is divided into two main mt lineages comprising 1) C. t. thysbe , and 2) C. t. psyche + C. t. bamptoni + C. t. schloszae. Each of the subspecies is highly variable and there is limited phenotypic overlap among them but most specimens can be readily identified, with locality only sometimes required to confirm identification of these subspecies. Distributions of the subspecies are shown in Fig. S3.

C. thysbe thysbe : The populations from Pearly Beach to the Cape Peninsula and northwards to the Lambert’s Bay area (and ~ 50km inland) are effectively uninterrupted, with frequent gene-flow being unavoidable. The diversity of wing facies is considerable within this region and despite them being variable geographically and seasonally, there are numerous intergrades. MPT: hilltops (including tops of dunes and mounds) and prominences at low elevation (but see ecological note below). Our sampled locations include Redhill, Simonstown, ~ 20 km from the type locality.

Conservation status: LC.

Taxonomy: Within the area stated, the different facies (e.g. Fig. 3 in QEA 22) cannot be treated as subspecies but rather as forms of C. thysbe thysbe . The same is true for C. thysbe osbecki (Aurivillius 1882) , originally described as a full species ( Phasis osbecki ). Pennington (1962: 273) considered osbecki to be an autumn form of thysbe ; Clark and Dickson (1971: 172) treated it as a form having many intergrades with other forms of thysbe . Thus, osbecki is synonymised as a form i.e., C. thysbe thysbe f. osbecki stat. rev.

An ecological and MPT note for C. t. thysbe : Males of this taxon are known to frequent low elevation hilltops and prominences but there are some localities for C. t. thysbe where this is not the case. Eleven km NW of Clanwilliam beside the N7, males were observed to patrol gullies; also at Graafwater and other localities beside the R 364 road leading to Lambert’s Bay the males frequent flat or depressed areas. In these localities the underside of both sexes are distinctively marked and yellowish or orange-brown in colour during springtime; the upper side is sometimes heavily marked in black scaling. There also seems to be some seasonal fluctuation in the definition of the hind wing verso in these populations, summer specimens being pallid and less distinctive.

Figures

Figure 1 – C. oreas (Bushman’s Nek). 1st instar (top) and ~4th instar (bottom). Not to scale.

Figure 2 – Male genitalia. (A) C. phosphor lateral view with aedeagus removed (illustration by A. Heath); see also Fig. 1h in HEA23. (B) C. oreas lateral view with aedeagus removed. (C) C. oreas genitalic components; see also Fig. 1c in HEA23. Parts (B) and (C) reproduced from Stempffer (1967) by courtesy of The Natural History Museum, London. Not to scale.

Figure 3 – C. aureus final instar (Heidelberg).

Figure 10 – C. t. thysbe final instar (11km NW of Clanwilliam).

Figure 11 – C. p. pyramus final instar larva (Swartberg Pass).