Entomologist's Gazette - Vol. 70, No. 3, 2019

Published: 7/26/2019

Article Details for this issue

Danaus chrysippus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758) ff. ‘alcippus’ and ‘alcippoides’ (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Danainae) from Cyprus

By: EDDIE JOHN & RICHARD I. VANE-WRIGHT

Page: 135–146

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
We report a recent observation of D. c. chrysippus f. ‘alcippus’ in Cyprus, a variant of the Plain Tiger or African Queen butterfly infrequently seen in the Mediterranean, especially in the east of the region. D. c. chrysippus f. ‘alcippus’ appears to have been recorded from Cyprus on just one previous occasion, by R. E. Ellison, in 1939. However, a specimen of the similar f. ‘alcippoides’ collected by D. M. A. Bate in Cyprus in 1901 could perhaps be the source of Ellison’s otherwise undocumented claim. These records are assessed in relation to the known distributions of the various forms of D. chrysippus across the Mediterranean, North Africa and Middle East, and more briefly with respect to the vast range of this butterfly across much of the Old World tropics and subtropics. The ambiguity and potential confusion caused by using an available name to designate both a geographically circumscribed subspecies or semispecies, and a genetically controlled phenotype that can be found far beyond the range of the putative subspecies or semispecies, is also discussed.

A note on Papilio aegyptius Schreber, 1759, and its synonymy with Danaus chrysippus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Danainae)

By: RICHARD I. VANE-WRIGHT & EDDIE JOHN

Page: 147–154

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
In this paper, we seek to predicate the status of Papilio aegyptius Schreber, 1759, as a junior subjective synonym of Danaus chrysippus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758). As early as 1764, these taxa were synonymised by Linnaeus, but the name aegyptius was later revived by Hans Fruhstorfer in ‘Seitz’ to represent a ‘race’ of D. chrysippus found in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt and also the Sudan. George Talbot subsequently used the name for one of seven subspecies of Danaus chrysippus he recognised. In the 1970s, work by Jacques Pierre persuaded other authors to regard ssp. aegyptius as the pan-Afrotropical subspecies, contrary to Talbot’s view of ssp. aegyptius being limited to only part of Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. The ‘Pierre classification’ was quite widely followed for about 20 years. There are now two different, rival systems for African D. chrysippus: the ‘Larsen classification’, which includes all populations in a greatly expanded ssp. chrysippus, and the ‘Smith classification’, which divides African D. chrysippus into four named semispecies together with a large ‘hybrid zone’. Both classifications agree, however, in placing both Egyptian and Eastern Mediterranean populations in the nominotypical taxon. In ‘Butterflies of Turkey’, Gerhard Hesselbarth, Harry van Oorschot & Sigbert Wagener placed Papilio aegyptius as a junior subjective synonym of Danaus chrysippus chrysippus, an action since independently supported by David Smith and his co-workers. A brief account of events leading to the return to synonymy of D. chrysippus aegyptius under the nominotypical subspecies is presented. In this history, differing interpretations of the type locality of Danaus chrysippus play a key role.

Review of the French species of Coelopisthia Förster (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) with a rearing record of C. pachycera Masi from Maniola jurtina (L.) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae)

By: RICHARD R. ASKEW, PIETER KAN & BRIGITTE KAN-VAN LIMBURG STIRUM

Page: 155–158

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
Data on Coelopisthia pachycera, C. extenta and C. areolata in France are presented including a rearing record for C. pachycera from Maniola jurtina. Elsewhere in Europe C. pachycera has been reared from pupae of M. jurtina and other species of Nymphalidae.

Faunal notes on the Bumblebee genus Bombus Latreille, 1802 in the vicinity of the Tolbachik Volcano (Kamchatka Krai, Russia)

By: N. S. KOLESOVA, M. V. DULIN & Z. A. YEFREMOVA

Page: 159–174

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
Nine species of Bombus from seven subgenera (Alpinobombus, Bombus, Melanobombus, Mendacibombus, Psithyrus, Pyrobombus, and Thoracobombus) were collected in three sites in 2008 in the vicinity of the Tolbachik volcano (between two large eruptions in 1975–1976 and 2012– 2013), representing 41% of the entire Kamchatka Krai’s fauna of Bombus species. The trophic links of the discovered Bombus species with the plants of the Asteraceae and Onagraceae families are characteristic of slag fields.

The first definite record of Sinomegoura citricola (van der Goot, 1917) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) occurring on Ilex rotunda (Aquifoliaceae)

By: DAISUKE SASAKI

Page: 175–178

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
In April 2018, the occurrence of Sinomegoura citricola was recorded on Ilex rotunda (Aquifoliaceae) in Japan. Both aphid identification with mounted specimens and rearing experiments with the plant shoots revealed that I. rotunda is a definite host for S. citricola. This is believed to be the first study to report a species of the family Aquifoliaceae as a certain host plant of S. citricola, emphasizing that the aphid is a polyphagous species.

On the identity of Gelechia sircomella Stainton, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

By: R. J. HECKFORD, S. D. BEAVAN, K. SATTLER & O. KARSHOLT

Page: 179–186

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
The identity of Gelechia sircomella Stainton, 1854, is considered. The two syntypes were destroyed by war action in 1940. The conclusion after consideration of the best available evidence is that it is merely a form of Aproaerema taeniolella (Zeller, 1839).

Distinguishing Omalium caesum Gravenhorst, 1806 and Omalium rugatum Mulsant & Rey, 1880 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae, Omaliinae) by external features

By: P. F. WHITEHEAD

Page: 187–190

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
Omalium caesum Gravenhorst, 1806 and Omalium rugatum Mulsant & Rey, 1880 can be separated in the field by observing the macrosculpture of the head and pronotum. Supporting details and figures are provided.

Theroscopus trifasciatus Förster, 1850 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) new to the British fauna

By: PAUL F. WHITEHEAD

Page: 191–193

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
On 11 June 2017 a highly distinctive micropterous female ichneumonid wasp was swept at the edge of a ride in mixed woodland dominated by Small-leaved Lime (Tilia cordata Miller) at Shrawley Wood, Worcestershire. There appears to be no documented record of this species in Britain. Comments on potential confusion species are provided.

A new species of Triphleba Rondani (Diptera: Phoridae) from Finland

By: R. HENRY L. DISNEY & ANTTI HAARTO

Page: 194–196

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
Triphleba salmelai sp. n. from Finland is described.

Neustonic behaviour in a population of Dicyrtomina saundersi (Lubbock, 1862) (Hexapoda, Collembola: Dicyrtomidae)

By: P. F. WHITEHEAD

Page: 197–198

Type: Short Notes