Pseudogyris gen. nov. (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), a new genus for two rare thecline butterflies from New Guinea, including the description of a new species

Abstract

The lycaenid tribe Ogyrini Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914 is endemic to the Australian Region, where it is restricted to mainland New Guinea and Australia. It currently includes 15 species, all assigned to the genus Ogyris Angas, 1847, and most of these are endemic to Australia. One species, Ogyris meeki (Rothschild, 1900) from mainland New Guinea, has been rarely collected, being previously known only from nine specimens (7 ♂, 2 ♀). However, comparative study of the morphology, including adult wing structure and genitalia, and wing color pattern elements based on examination of existing and additional material (9 ♂, 3 ♀), indicate that O. meeki comprises a complex of two species, and differs fundamentally from Ogyris by 14 unique characters, many of which are considered to be synapomorphies. We therefore propose a new genus, Pseudogyris gen. nov., and a new species to classify this unusual pair of species, which are among the largest and perhaps most spectacular theclines. Unlike Ogyris, Pseudogyris meeki (Rothschild, 1900) comb. nov. and Pseudogyris brandti sp. nov. are restricted to mainland New Guinea (West Papua and Papua of Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea) and the neighboring island of New Ireland (PNG), where they occur in tropical lowland rainforest and lower montane forest. The two species of Pseudogyris are allopatric, being separated by the Central Cordillera, with P. meeki comb. nov. restricted to the southern lowlands and P. brandti sp. nov. to the northern lowlands and New Ireland. Show more