Chrysoritis perseus (Henning 1977)

Heath, Alan, 2023, Chrysoritis Butler (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Aphnaeinae) - Part III: An integrative taxonomic revision, Metamorphosis 34 (1), pp. 11-28 : 20-21

Chrysoritis perseus (Henning 1977) .

Poecilmitis perseus, Henning 1977: 27 .

Holotype: Ditsong NM. Type locality: 18 km E. of Hondeklip Bay ,

MPT: flat and sloping ground, avoiding prominences. Final instar larva illustrated here in Fig. 8 . Host ant: Crem. castanea at the type locality and Crem. peringueyi and Crem. castanea at Groenriviersmond.

Taxonomy: Chrysoritis perseus is polyphyletic in the COI tree with the “main” larger lineage divided into two west coastal allopatric populations (labelled “North” and “South'' respectively in the COI tree). Hind wing "solid blue" invariably reaches the post-discal spots especially in the north population. Some specimens from the northern population are easily confused with C. lyndseyae due to a greater extent of silvery-blue scaling. The coastal population ranging from 7km south of Lambert’s Bay (now fenced off) northwards to Doring Bay is treated here as the southern population of C. perseus with only Crem. peringueyi recorded as its host ant. Wing facies of this southern population are variable but often differs from nominate C. perseus by having a weaker (transparent) silvery-blue scaling on the forewing; the hind wing having a smaller "solid blue" basal patch that fails to reach the post-discal spots. The undersides are even more variable in the density of markings, some specimens being quite weakly marked and others are distinct.

The southern population has highly variable wing facies but no consistent differences from the north population, other than the extent of "solid blue" on hind wing more often being reduced.

The six outlier samples (C163, C329, C369, C378, U292, M 674 in the COI tree) which render C. perseus polyphyletic mingle with the southern population of C. perseus at Lambert’s Bay, sharing the same host ants and larval host plants; they constitute over a third of all 16 C. perseus sampled there. There are no consistent differences in appearance or behaviour, hence there is no way to identify these six outliers from the main clade of C. perseus except by molecular means. It is possibly a product of past mitochondrial capture (historical introgression of mtDNA) by C. perseus , (explained for C. trimeni , above) but unlike the scenario for C. trimeni , the mitochondrial “donor” taxon (which, in the case of C. trimeni , was C. lyndseyae ) is extinct (or possibly yet to be sampled) but its mitochondrial lineage has survived to the present in these specimens, similar to Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA found in present day humans. Also unlike the case for C. trimeni , whose samples form a well supported clade in the CAD tree, the four CAD sequences of C. perseus are scattered widely therein. This species requires further investigation.

Conservation status: LC.

Figures

Figure 8 – C. perseus final instar (Groenriviersmond).