Species Appias melania (Fabricius, 1775)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Papilio melania Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Systema Entomologiae, sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus. Flensburgi et Lipsiae [= Flensburg & Leipzig] : Kortii xxxii 832 pp. [Date published 17 April] [475].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♀, Cooktown, QLD (Australia as nova Hollandia; designated in original description)
  Comment: Fabricius in the original description did not indicate the number of specimens described; Waterhouse, G.A. 1937. Presidential address: The biology and taxonomy of the Australasian butterflies. Report of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science 23: 101–133 [also issued as a repaginated separate in 1938] [122] (referred to a holotype); Zimsen, E. 1964. The Type Material of I.C. Fabricius. Copenhagen : Munksgaard 656 pp. [513] (listed a single specimen in the Banks collection and this is accepted as a holotype).

  Type locality references:

  Waterhouse, G.A. 1937. Presidential address: The biology and taxonomy of the Australasian butterflies. Report of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science 23: 101-133 [also issued as a repaginated separate in 1938] [101] (gave Endeavour River (Cooktown) as the locality for all of Banks Australian species except one); Waterhouse, G.A. 1937. Presidential address: The biology and taxonomy of the Australasian butterflies. Report of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science 23: 101-133 [also issued as a repaginated separate in 1938]; Waterhouse, G.A. 1938. Notes on Jones' Icones (Lepidoptera). With footnotes and appendix by Sir Edward B. Poulton. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London A 13(1–3): 9-17 [10] (explained the origin of material in the Banks collection and Jones Icones); Corbet, A.S. 1941. Observations on certain of the Fabrician names of Indo-Australian Rhopalocera (Lepid.). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London B 10(6): 98-106 [100] (gave the sex and likely locality of origin of the type); Zimsen, E. 1964. The Type Material of I.C. Fabricius. Copenhagen : Munksgaard 656 pp.
• Tachyris asteria Miskin, W.H. 1889. Descriptions of hitherto undescribed Australian Lepidoptera (Rhopalocera). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 3(4): 1514-1520 [publication date: Anon. 1929. List showing dates of publication of parts of the Proceedings for each year. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. Index to vols 1–50 (1875–1925)] [1514].

  Type data:

   Holotype SAMA ♂, Port Douglas, N QLD (designated in original description)
  Comment: Miskin in the original description did not indicate the number of specimens described; Hancock, D.L. 1995. The butterfly types of W. H. Miskin in the Queensland Museum (Lepidoptera). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38(2): 519–528 [520] (recorded that Miskin's notebook indicated only one specimen and this is accepted as evidence for a holotype; the type was originally in the Lucas collection, now in SAMA).

  Type locality references:

  Hancock, D.L. 1995. The butterfly types of W. H. Miskin in the Queensland Museum (Lepidoptera). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38(2): 519-528.
• Tachyris cerussa Fruhstorfer, H. 1904. Neue Falter. Insektenbörse 21(20): 157 [157].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, whereabouts unknown ♂, QLD (in original description)
  Comment: Fruhstorfer in the original description did not indicate the number of specimens described; the type material was originally in the Thiele collection.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Waterhouse, G.A. & Lyell, G. 1914. The Butterflies of Australia: a monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera introducing a complete scheme of structural classification, and giving descriptions and illustrations of all the butterflies found in Australia, including a number now recorded for the first time. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 239 pp. 38 pls + 3 unnumbered colour pls. [Date published 25 July 1914] [148]

 

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Larva: herbivore (associated flora: Drypetes spp. [EUPHORBIACEAE]).

 

General References

Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [296] (description, distribution)

Waterhouse, G.A. & Lyell, G. 1914. The Butterflies of Australia: a monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera introducing a complete scheme of structural classification, and giving descriptions and illustrations of all the butterflies found in Australia, including a number now recorded for the first time. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 239 pp. 38 pls + 3 unnumbered colour pls. [Date published 25 July 1914] [148] (description, distribution)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
07-Mar-2024	PAPILIONOIDEA	07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED	Dr Michael Braby
04-Feb-2023	PAPILIONOIDEA	22-Dec-2023	MODIFIED	Dr Michael Braby (ANU)
13-May-2022	PAPILIONOIDEA	07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED	Dr Michael Braby
26-Feb-2021	PAPILIONOIDEA	07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED	Dr Michael Braby
04-Jun-2020	PAPILIONOIDEA	07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED	Dr Michael Braby
06-Sep-2017	PAPILIONOIDEA	07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED
05-Mar-2013		07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED
30-Mar-2012		07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED
05-Apr-2011		05-Apr-2011	MOVED
28-Mar-2012		07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED
28-Mar-2012		07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED
		07-Mar-2024	MODIFIED