Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 87. (Budapest 1995)

Bálint, Zs. ; Johnson, K.: Taxonomic synopsis of the high Andean and Austral lycaenid genus Paralycaeides Nabokov, 1945 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae, Polyommatini)

According to the view of NABOKOV (1944, 1945) Paralycaeides is the ancestral form of Lycaeides HÜBNER, [1819]. His opinion was based strictly on the morphology of the male genital valvae, uncus and gnathos. These components are now not regarded as having fundamental importance in the higher classification of the lycaenid butterflies (cf. ELIOT 1973: 389-390). In contrast, the male genital penis (ELIOT 1973: 390) and the female genital henia (HIROWATARI 1992: 10) have remarkably informative characters. Based on a concilience of all these data, Paralycaeides can be considered a sister taxon of the Holarctic Polyommatus group (and Madeleinea the sister group of the Holarctic genus Plebejus). It is still uncertain, however, whether the high Andean or Austral taxon is the most primitive lineage of the clade. Within Paralycaeides two phenetic groups are obvious: the shade group (which includes a single taxon P. shade) and the vapa group (which contains three distinctive species discussed in more detail below). These superficially similar phenetic groups are also supported by structural characters, a rather unusual phenomenon amongst Neotropical polyommatines. We recall here the situation of Madeleinea (BÁLINT & JOHNSON 1995b) and Pseudolucia (BÁLINT & JOHNSON 1995a), where the superficial groupings are contradicted by several conspicuous structural characters. It must be noted, however, that exploration of the high Andean fauna is still in fancy. The apparent cohesiveness of Paralycaeides could be resulted from simple sampling error and, subsequently, when more material will be available, Paralycaeides could show the same structural (and taxonomic) diversity as Madeleinea or Pseudolucia. Etymology- Gender masculin; referring to the relationship of the holarctic genus Lycaeides HÜBNER, [1819], presumed by NABOKOV.