Linnaeus's butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea)

Abstract

The names of all the species of butterflies described by Linnaeus under "Papilio" are researched. Of the 305 names treated, 243 (c. 80%) are currently valid as specific (241) or subspecific (2), 29 are junior synonyms, 14 are invalid (one of these applying t o a fake), and for 13 the identity is unknown or uncertain. Six species of moths misidentified by Linnaeus as butterflies are cited in the study, but details are not included. One hundred and fifty-two lectotypes have been designated, representing about 56% of the sum of the valid names and junior synonyms. Of these, 99 were selected from specimens in the Linnean Society of London, 52 from Queen Ludovica Ulrica's collection, Uppsala, and one lectotype is a Petiver specimen from the collection of Sir Hans Sloane. Linnaeus described at least five species, possibly eight, from the literature alone. All Linnaean material examined is documented, as are 'subsequent' specimens that are associated with Linnaean material. Synonymy and homonymy are discussed and presented, as are the identities of type localities. Care has been taken to achieve a practical balance between Linnaean and current species identities.

How old can we go? Evaluating the age limit for effective DNA recovery from historical insect specimens

“…We have shown that this method is reliable and robust when used to genotype insect specimens collected at least as far back as the early 19th century and possibly earlier. The oldest preserved insect collections still extant are the James Petiver (1665–1718), Hans Sloane (1660–1735) and Joseph Banks (1743–1820) collections at the Natural History Museum, London (Stearns, ; Hawkins, ; Seaward, ), the Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) collection at the Linnean Society of London (Tanner, ; Honey & Scoble, ), the Kilian Stobaeus (1690–1742) collection at the Biological Museum of Lund University and the Queen Ludovica Ulrica (1720–1782) collection at the Evolution Museum of Uppsala University in Sweden (Kim & Lindroth, ; Honey & Scoble, ). Yet, preserved insect material from the 17th and even most of the 18th century is very scarce (Lalonde & Marcus, ).…”

Speciation in Pararge (Satyrinae: Nymphalidae) butterflies – North Africa is the source of ancestral populations of all Pararge species

“…There are names available for each of the three entities: meone Stoll, 1780 (type locality: Algeria), aegeria Linnaeus, 1758 (type locality: South Europe and North Africa) and tircis Godart, 1821 (type locality: France). However, using these names is complicated by the fact that the type locality of aegeria is given as 'South Europe and North Africa' and no type material exists (see Honey & Scoble, 2001). Fixing the name to populations in southern Europe would require a neotype, and such an act is beyond the scope of this paper.…”

The “upside down” systematics of hairstreak butterflies (Lycaenidae) that eat pineapple and other Bromeliaceae

“…In the beginning, Linnaeus named Papilio echion from a written description and a referenced illustration that refer to two unrelated species with similar ventral wing patterns. The nomenclatural identification of Tmolus echion that has been accepted almost universally in the taxonomic literature for over a century does not refer to the bromeliad feeders (Honey & Scoble 2001;Robbins 2004b). The name Thecla basilides does refer to a pineapple-feeding hairstreak, but is a junior synonym of S. megarus (Robbins 2004b).…”