Zaretis syene, (HEWITSON, 1856)

ZARETIS SYENE ( HEWITSON, 1856) View in CoL

( FIGS 9E, F, 15F, 19; SUPPORTING INFORMATION, APPENDIX S6)

Type material

Male holotype of Siderone syene Hewitson, 1856 with the following labels: / Type/ SYN-TYPE/ B.M. TYPE No. Rh 10380 Siderone syene [#f] #m Hew[itson]./ N. Granada. Hewitson Coll. 79-69 Siderone syrene [sic], 2./ (NHMUK).

Diagnosis

Zaretis syene is highly distinctive and can be distinguished easily from all other species of Zaretis by the wing shape, coloration and male genitalia ( Figs 9E, F, 15F). This species is probably elevationally allopatric with respect to other species of the genus. It can be distinguished from all species of the genus by the FW apex being strongly falcate, wide and rounded; by the FW outer margin being strongly crenulated at M 3, CuA 1 and CuA 2; by the HW apex emarginated at Sc–R–Rs, and HW outer margin slightly projected at Rs; and by the HW tornal projection at 2A being strongly developed. The wing pattern is typical of the genus, but the upperside of the wings has an orange ground colour, including the submarginal and marginal areas, and well-developed dark brown markings; the pattern is obscured by a variable dark brown suffusion along the outer margin, particularly on the HWD; wing underside homogeneously brown in all areas, bands and umbra dark brown; male genitalia relatively larger when compared with other species; projection between the costa and the harpe weak, similar to species of Siderone and Phantos gen. nov.

Discussion

Siderone syene Hewitson, 1856 View in CoL is a distinctive and rare species, described based on an unstated number of specimens from Nueva Granada, i.e. Colombia. However, the wording of the description clearly implies that the description of S. syene Hewitson, 1856 View in CoL was based on single specimen, thought to be a female by Hewitson (1856). The true sex of Hewitson’s specimen was revealed only many years later by Gabriel (1927); as far as we know, females of this species are still unknown. The holotype is illustrated by Warren et al. (2016) and is deposited in the NHMUK type collection. Salazar (1995) indicated the presence of this species on all three Colombian cordilleras, regarding the occurrence of Z. syene View in CoL as an indicator of well-preserved humid forests in Colombia.

Distribution

Restricted to premontane cloud forests from 1000 to 2500 m in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru ( Fig. 19). The records for Brazil provided by Comstock (1961) and label data of specimens at the USNM are certainly mistaken.

Examined material

See Supporting Information, Appendix S1.