Philiris papuanus explained

Philiris papuanus is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Cape York Peninsula, Australia and New Guinea.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The species belongs to the diana species-group, relatively large butterflies within the genus Philiris. Like in other six members of the group, the hindwing underside of P. papuanus is lacking a black spot on the inner margin, and the male genitalia have long and asymmetric valvae.^[2]

Taxonomic History

Wind and Clench originally described a subspecies Philiris diana papuanus, suggesting that it may be a species.^[1] Only in 2015, Sands upgraded the status and devided P. papuanus into two subspecies. In 2023, the species level difference between P. diana and P. papuanus and subspecific difference within P. papuanus were confirmed by the study of the genitalia.^[3]

Classification

Philiris papuanus consists of two subspecies:^[4]

• Philiris papuanus papuanus Wind et Clench, 1947
• Philiris papuanus kerri Sands, 2015

Distribution

The nominotypical subspecies P. p. papuanus is found on the mainland New Guinea. Philiris p. kerri is the Australian subspecies from Cape York Peninsula of northern Queensland, where it is recorded from the cape's very tip near Bamaga to the south near the Rocky River.^[3]

Habitat

There is a different bollygum host species for the larvae of each P. papuanus subspecies. The nominotypical subspecies P. p. papuanus feeds on Litsea guppyi,^[2] while the Australian P. p. kerri on L. breviumbellata.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Wind . R.G. . Clench . H.K. . New Indo-Australian Licaenidae (Lepidoptera) . 1947 . Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society . 42 . 1-16.
2. Book: Parsons . M.J. . The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea. Their Systematics and Biology . 1998 . London: Academic Press.
3. Hacobian . B.S. . Braby . M.F. . Petrie . E.A. . 2023 . A New Subspecies of Philiris Diana Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from the Wet Tropics of Northern Australia . Records of the Australian Museum . 75 . 2 . 65–78 . 10.3853/j.2201-4349.75.2023.1826. free .
4. Sands . D.P.A.. 2015. Review of Australian Philiris Röber (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), with Notes on Variation and Descriptions of Two New Subspecies from Cape York Peninsula . Australian Entomologist . 42 . 4 . 219–252.
5. Valentine . P.S. . Johnson . S.J. . 1997 . Ecological observations and notes on the life history of Philiris diana papuana Wind & Clench (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) . Australian Entomologist . 24 . 35–36.