Chrysoritis trimeni (Riley 1938)

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

Chrysoritis trimeni (Riley 1938) .

Poecilmitis thysbe trimeni Riley 1938: 240 .

Holotype: NHM, London. Type locality: Port Nolloth . MPT: flat sheltered coastal areas.

Host ant: Crem. peringueyi . Final instar larva can be seen in Heath et al. (2008 pl. 7). Restricted to the NW coastal area, Port Nolloth and Kleinsee.

Taxonomy: This taxon is polyphyletic in the COI tree due to a lineage comprising five trimeni samples (C042, C069, C070, M601, M602 from Kleinsee intermingling with members of the main lineage) being nested within C. lyndseyae . These specimens resemble both C. trimeni s.s. and C. williami with which they occur sympatrically, intermingling on flat ground behind coastal dunes at Kleinsee. However, the two samples of C. trimeni in the CAD tree (representing both COI lineages of C. trimeni ) are monophyletic (99%). The polyphyly of C. trimeni in the COI tree can be explained by historical introgression, specifically, past capture of C. lyndseyae mtDNA by C. trimeni (explained in Results of QEA22, under C. trimeni ).

Conservation status: VU.