Melitaea phaeton ( Drury, 1773 )

Melitaea phaeton ( Drury, 1773) View in CoL

Melitaea phaeton View in CoL was originally illustrated as a drawing in Illustrations of Exotic Entomology, Vol. 1 ( Drury, 1773: plate 21) ( Fig. 2) along with a description and location (New York) on pages 42-43 ( Fig. 1). Drury opted to not apply the Linnean name system, but simply referenced “ phaeton View in CoL ” in the Index, thus technically leaving the illustrated species in Vol. 1 unnamed. An Index to the First Volume was published with Vol. 2 ( Drury, 1773) (Calhoun, pers. corr.). That Index included the binomial names of specimens illustrated in Vol. 1, thus making the date of description 1773 per ICZN Opinion 474 (ICZN, 1957). The name Melitaea phaeton View in CoL is found along with the text in the Westwood Edition of Illustrations of Exotic Entomology, Vol. 1 ( Westwood, 1837: page 39) ( Fig. 3). Westwood references Plate 21 from the original Vol. 1 of Drury (1773); also appropriately numbered as Plate 21 in the Westwood Edition. The illustration fairly well matches typical specimens of Euphydryas phaeton View in CoL from the Mid-Atlantic region centered around New York City. The precise origin of the original specimen illustrated by Drury is unknown, but was likely collected by his correspondent in the New World, Thomas James, who lived in Brooklyn, N.Y. and frequently sent specimens to Drury in England. Thus, the specimen that served for the original illustration was most likely collected in the rural western end of Long Island. See discussion in Calhoun (2010) and also Pavulaan (2020) for details and circumstances surrounding Drury’s collection and personal contacts. Interestingly, the illustrated type in Drury (1773) is more aligned with the schausi phenotype. Assuming it was collected in New York, it represents a variant. [This paper will not attempt to refine the original TL.]

For purposes of synonymy, the aberrant forms “ superba ” ( Strecker, 1878) and “ phaethusa ” ( Hulst, 1881) were each described from specimens taken on Long Island, New York, thus remaining synonyms of E. p. phaeton View in CoL . Pelham (2008) misspelled “phaethusa” as “phaetusa”. Aberrant form “ streckeri ” ( Ellsworth, 1902) was described from a specimen taken in Broome County, N.Y., thus associated as a synonym of E. p. phaeton View in CoL . Hübner (1816) described Melitaea phaëtaena , by description apparently an aberrant form of phaeton View in CoL [translated to read: “The wings brick red colored, cheerful yellow bands and with black lines alternately drawn”] - which was subsequently misspelled by Barnes & McDunnough (1917) as Euphydryas phaetana View in CoL . Godart (1819) misspelled the species as Melitaea phaetontea View in CoL , a synonym, which was subsequently misspelled by Barnes & McDunnough (1917) as

Euphydryas phaetoneta . Herrich-Schäffer, G. A. W. (1865) misspelled the species as Melitaea phaedon ,

a synonym. Holland (1889) misspelled the species as Melitaea phaëtona , a synonym.