Chrysoritis, Butler, 1898

Chrysoritis View in CoL identifications

Identification of the specimens were established over many years and were made in reference to the type specimens and their authors’ descriptions. In two cases of ambiguity, namely C. lyndseyae v s C. thysbe bamptoni and C. thysbe mithras vs C. t. thysbe, COI neighbour joining trees were constructed (by Z.A. Kaliszewska) during the early stages of the TEA20 study, which helped to confirm separate COI phylogenetic placements for each member in each pair.

Morphological traits

Morphological traits used for species and subspecies circumscriptions relied primarily on wing morphology,

particularly the:

1) extent (including presence/absence) of silvery-blue wing scaling (which creates iridescence structurally)

2) extent of “solid blue” of the hindwing upper side

3) density of silvery-blue on both wings (thereby allowing or preventing visibility of underside markings through to the upper side)

4) clarity of hindwing underside markings (plain vs. well marked)

5) pallidity of wings (hindwing underside, or in general)

6) hindwing and forewing shape

7) length of the hindwing “tail”

Some of these traits are useful only to a limited degree (either for a single taxon or a small group of taxa, e.g., hindwing shape for C. chrysaor natalensis , forewing shape for C. brooksi and C. palmus , and short hindwing “tail” for C. chrysaor , C.chrysaor natalensis , and C. phosphor ). Preliminary investigations suggest that the length of the upper row of lateral setae in early first instar larvae appears to be fairly constant within a given species, and the length and shape of the tubercles housing the tentacular organs appear to differ significantly among Chrysoritis species (details in HEA23a). Thorough investigation of these traits is beyond the scope of this paper but should be considered in future taxonomic efforts.

Ecological traits

Heath & Pringle (2007: 38) suggested that any species within the thysbe clade could utilise the host plant of any other species within the clade, and so all species in the thysbe clade have been treated as polyphagous. Thus, host plant data are considered to be of little use in Chrysoritis taxonomy (see also Cottrell, 1984: 41).

TEA20 showed that Chrysoritis species show remarkable overlap in climatic niche, thus that trait is also not useful for taxonomy. The following ecological traits were examined for their potential in delimiting species: 1) host ant species, 2) male patrolling terrain, and 3) range overlap (sympatry vs. allopatry; see Note S1) with other Chrysoritis taxa. These traits are discussed below.

Host ants and plants

Host plants and ants are listed together with original sources in Heath et al. (2008), and TEA20 provided a broad summary of host plant genera in their Table S5. Following revised IDs of the host ants by B. Blaimer (see below) a revised list of plant and ant hosts is given in Table S 1 in HEA23b. The two ant genera recorded as associated with Chrysoritis species are the ‘Droptail’ ants Myrmicaria Saunders, 1842 and the ‘Cocktail’ ants Crematogaster Lund, 1831 , both in Myrmicinae. The majority of Chrysoritis species are associated with Crematogaster ; only two species are recorded with Myrmicaria – C. oreas and C. pyroeis .

Host ant identification

The absence of the "correct" species of host ant, assumed to be chemically detected by the gravid female, may deter oviposition. Dr Hamish Robertson provisionally identified the ants mentioned herein from samples collected in the field that were found in association with Chrysoritis larvae and adults. Some of these identifications were subsequently revised by B. Blaimer (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History) and endorsed by H.G. Robertson. The authors also referred to Peter Slingsby’s recent guidebook (2017) to confirm ant identifications. The Crematogaster species currently known to associate with Chrysoritis are: