Libythea Fabricius 1807

Introduction

The genus Libythea includes nine extant species and two fossils. Adults typically land at damp spots on the ground, and visit flowers in low elevation mountains. The male typically is territorial, and both sexes cryptically rest on branches. Most species are found in forests and disturbed habitats, and usually have one or two annual generations. The egg is generally laid on buds of Celtis (Celtidaceae), and in nearly all cases, the larva feeds on leaves of this plant genus.

At least one non-fossil species is presumed extinct: Libythea cinyras Trimen, known only from the holotype specimen collected on Mauritius in 1866. The specimen is in poor condition, as it lacks a head and abdomen, and is stored in the type collection at the Natural History Museum in London. The life histories of L. collenettei Poulton & Riley (Marquesas Islands) and L. narina Godart (Southeast Asia) also remain unknown. For further information on the natural history of Libythea, refer to Kawahara (2006).

Characteristics

Species of Libythea share at least seven characteristics that can be used to distinguish them from Libytheana (Kawahara, in press):

• R3 of forewing with base closer to fork of R4+R5 than discal cell
• band between forewing M1 and M3 closer to wing margin than discal cell
• quadrifid eighth abdominal tergum
• saccus narrow and pointed anteriorly
• aedeagus sigmoid
• enlarged female seventh abdominal sternum
• signa present on inner surface of corpus bursae

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Phylogenetic relationships of Libythea species still remain somewhat tentative. Morphological data strongly support the relationships of the following groups: (Libythea celtis , Libythea lepita)(Libythea geoffroyi , Libythea narina)(Libythea labdaca , Libythea laius), but the placement of Libythea cinyras, Libythea collenettei, Libythea myrrha, and the two fossil taxa remain uncertain.

Other Names for Libythea Fabricius 1807

• Lybithea Rafinesque 1815 incorrect subsequent spelling
• Hecaerge Ochsenheimer 1816 junior objective synonym
• Chilea Billberg 1820 junior objective synonym
• Libythoea Godart 1821 incorrect subsequent spelling
• Hypatus Hübner 1822 junior objective synonym
• Libythaeus Boitard 1828 incorrect subsequent spelling
• Hecaaerge Blanchard 1840 incorrect subsequent spelling
• Libythaea Lucas 1856 incorrect subsequent spelling
• Lybathea Edwards 1874 incorrect subsequent spelling
• Dichora Scudder 1889 invalid junior homonym of Dichora Paetel 1875 (a genus of Mollusks)
• Libytahe Heyne 1895 incorrect subsequent spelling
• Libethea Wolcott 1936 incorrect subsequent spelling

References

Kawahara, A. Y. 2006. Biology of the snout butterflies (Nymphalidae: Libytheinae), Part 1: Libythea Fabricius. Transactions of the Lepidopterological Society of Japan 57(1): 13-33.

Kawahara, A. Y. (accepted). Revision of the Extant and Fossil Snout Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Libytheinae). Thomas Say Publications in Entomology, Monographs. Lanham, Maryland.