Exoskeleton Morphology of Three Species of Preponini, with Discussion of Morphological Similarities among Neotropical Charaxinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)—I. Head, Cephalic Appendages, and Cervix

Abstract

The present study compares the morphology of the head, appendages, and cervical region of three species of the butterflies Archaeoprepona demophon demophon (Linnaeus, 1758), Archaeoprepona licomedes licomedes (Cramer, 1777), and Prepona pylene pylene Hewitson, [1854], through descriptions, illustrations, and scanning electron micrographs. The results are compared with Prepona claudina annetta (Gray, 1832), Memphis moruus stheno Hübner, [1819], and Zaretis itys itylus (Westwood, 1850), showing unique characteristics for each species and/or genus, or characteristics shared among the species analyzed. The detailed morphology of these three species was previouslyunknown.

Exoskeleton Morphology of Three Species of Preponini, with Discussion of Morphological Similarities among Neotropical Charaxinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)—II. Thorax and Thoracic Appendages

“…All these characters can be easily observed and are useful in the diagnosis of this genus. This contrasts with the head and appendages, which in the first part of this study (Bonfantti et al, 2015) proved to show no morphological patterns useful in distinguishing as the thorax.…”

“…The two genera, Archaeoprepona and Prepona, showed quite similar morphological patterns for this tagma. As in the first part of this study (Bonfantti et al, 2015), the individual species with the most distinct morphological pattern was Prepona p. pylene. This species differs in having the semicircular scutellum II, a medially narrowed scutum III, and a lobe on the epimeron II, which can easily be observed with the specimen in ventral view, without the need for specimen dissection or damage.…”

“…The material analyzed in this study was the same as that used in the first contribution, as well as for the preparation of body structures and illustrations (Bonfantti et al, 2015). However, the methodology for preparing the wings differs.…”

“…This is the second contribution to a series of detailed studies on the exoskeletons of Archaeoprepona demophon demophon (Linnaeus, 1758), Archaeoprepona licomedes licomedes (Cramer, 1777), and Prepona pylene pylene Hewitson [1854]. The first part consisted of the comparative morphology and analysis of the head, cephalic appendages and cervical sclerite (Bonfantti et al, 2015).…”

Morfología descriptiva de los genitales masculinos en algunas especies neotropicales pertenecientes a la tribu Anaeini (LEPIDOPTERA: CHARAXIDAE)

“…199-224 Tales acciones taxonómicas fueron posteriormente sinonimizadas por LAMAS (2004) al acusar falta de evidencias concernientes a la monofilia de dichos géneros. Recientemente, y dado el gran interés que despierta este grupo singular de mariposas, se han publicado diversos trabajos que demuestran la nueva validez genérica, permitiendo reafirmar su mantenimiento como géneros propios dentro de la tribu Anaeini (ver SALAZAR, 2008;BONFANTI et al, 2013BONFANTI et al, , 2015. Un aporte contundente en dicho sentido se debe a DIAS (2013), quien estudió filogenéticamente los Anaeini pertenecientes al género Memphis (sensu lato), y encontró nuevas evidencias para justificar la creación y separación de los géneros Annagrapha y Rydonia, creados por SALAZAR & CONSTANTINO (2001).…”