Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) ghasemii Karbalaye & Lukhtanov, 2024

Karbalaye, Ahmad & Lukhtanov, Vladimir A., 2024, Three new species of the genus Polyommatus Latreille, 1804 (subgenus Agrodiaetus Hübner, [1822]) from the Central Zagros Mountains, Iran (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Polyommatinae), Ecologica Montenegrina 78, pp. 119-133 : 127-128

Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) ghasemii Karbalaye & Lukhtanov , sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CEE5948B-4C76-4C0F-A585-B844E847B68C

Figs 18-21

Holotype: male, Iran, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province (south part), Lordegan district , Koh-e-Rig Mountains , 3100 to 3200 m, 15 July 2023, leg. A. Karbalaye, deposited in the Plant, Pests and Diseases Research Institute in Tehran, Iran.

Paratypes: 9 males, 3 females, same data, in coll. A. Karbalaye, Iran . 11 males, 4 females, same locality, 13 July 2024, leg. and coll. A. Karbalaye. 1 male, same data, in ZISP .

Description

The length of the fore wings in the holotype is 14.0 mm, in male paratypes 13.5 - 14.0 mm, in female paratypes 13.0 - 14.0 mm. Antennae, palpi, ocelli, head, thorax and abdomen (including genitalia) do not appear to have taxonomically valuable characters for separating species.

Males

Upperside. The ground color of the wings is dark brown, but lighter than in P. hejazii . The costal margin of the fore wings is slightly lighter. Discoidal, submarginal and antemarginal marking is absent on both fore- and hindwings. Forewings with well-developed androconial scales. These scales are evident along the basal half of the costal margin of the forewing. Fringe is brown.

Underside. Ground color is greyish brown. Greenish blue metallic basal suffusion on the hindwings is well developed. Basal spots are absent on the fore wings and present on the hindwings, circled with white. Discoidal black spots are present on both fore- and hindwings, circled with white. Postdiscal black spots are medium-sized on hindwings and large on forewings, circled with white on both fore- and hindwings. On the forewings, the submarginal dark spots are large and circled with whitish color, but this whitish edge is paler than the edge of the postdiscal spots. Antemarginal markings are well pronounced. Orange lunules are absent. The white stripe is absent or slightly visible on the hindwings. Fringe is brown.

Females

Upperside. The ground color of the wings is brown, with well-developed discal spots. Submarginal and antemarginal marking is present and is represented by faintly visible light lunules. Fringe is light brown.

Underside. Ground color is greyish brown. Greenish blue basal suffusion on the hindwings is well developed. Basal spots are absent on the fore wings and present on the hindwings, circled with white. Discoidal black spots are present on both fore- and hindwings, circled with white. Postdiscal black spots are medium-sized on hindwings and large on forewings, circled with white on both fore- and hindwings. On the forewings, the submarginal dark spots are large and circled with white. Antemarginal markings are well pronounced on both fore- and hindwings. Orange lunules are absent. The white stripe is absent on the hindwings. Fringe is light brown.

Diagnosis. This butterfly belongs to the species group P. ardschira – P. luna – P. hejazii . Phenotypically, it is not as strongly differentiated as P. hejazii . It differs from P. hejazii in the structure of the costal margin of the forewing in males, where the protruding scales are not as prominent. In this respect, the species is closer to P. ardschira and P. luna . It differs from P. luna in the more strongly developed basal blue-green pollination on the underside of the hindwing at its base, which is more extended distally than in P. luna and reaches the discal spot and three lower spots of the postdiscal row. It differs from P. ardschira in the more intense bluish color of this pollination. A special feature of P. ghasemii is the strongly developed spots of the submarginal row on the underside of the forewings. These spots are surrounded by white and thus resemble the spots of the postdiscal row.

As for the genetic differences, the most similar DNA barcodes are found in P. luna , P. pfeifferi , P. ardschira , P. hejazii sp. nov., and P. eckweileri . However, the studied paratype of P. ghasemii differs from all these species by a significant number of nucleotide substitutions. These differences are:

Pdistance ( ghasemii / luna ) = 1.37% (9 substitutions)

Pdistane ( ghasemii / pfeifferi ) = 1.37% (9 substitutions)

Pdistance ( ghasemii / ardschira ) = 1.975% (13 substitutions)

Pdistance ( hejazii / ghasemii ) = 1.975% (13 substitutions)

Pdistance ( ghasemii / eckweileri ) = 1.975% (13 substitutions)

These differences are higher than the level of intraspecific variation found in the subclade P. pfeifferi (0-4 substitutions). These differences are higher than the distinction between the sympartic and morphologically contrasting species P. ardschira (males with brown wings) and P. pfeifferi (males with blue wings) (Pdistance ( pfeifferi / ardschira ) = 0.46%, 3 substitutions).

Bionomy. Polyommatus ghasemii inhabits tragacanth biotopes at an altitude of 3100 to 3200 m above sea level ( Fig. 26 ).

Distribution. Known only from the type locality ( Fig. 17 ).

Etymology. The species is named after Dr. Saeid Ghasemi, Iranian expert in environmental sciences, who helped in field sampling, especially finding female specimens, as well as in preparation of this paper.

Figures

Figure 17. Schematic distribution map of P. (A.) hejazii sp. nov. (red), P. (A.) ghasemii sp. nov. (green), P. (A.) persisinus sp. nov. (green) and closely related species P. (A.) ardschira (blue), P. (A.) luna (pink), P. (A.) shahrami (pale blue), P. (A.) achaemenes (black), and P. (A.) faramarzii (pale blue).

Figure 26. Biotope of P. ghasemii and P. persisinus. Iran, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province (south part), Lordegan District, Koh-e-Rig Mountains, 3100 to 3200 m. Photo: A. Karbalaye.

Figures 18-21. Polyommatus ghasemii, spec. nov. 18, male, holotype, upperside; 19, male, holotype, underside; 20, female, paratype, upperside; 21, female, paratype, underside. Scale bar = 10 mm.