Subspecies Melanitis leda bankia (Fabricius, 1775)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Papilio bankia 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] [499].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH Rh5047 ♀, Cooktown, QLD (as nova Hollandia in original description)
  Comment: Fabricius in the original description did not indicate the number of specimens described; Riley, N.D. & Gabriel, A.G. 1924. Catalogue of the Type Specimens of Lepidoptera Rhopalocera in the British Museum. Part I. Satyrinae. London : British Museum 62 pp. [10] (listed a single female type in the BMNH and gave type information); Zimsen, E. 1964. The Type Material of I.C. Fabricius. Copenhagen : Munksgaard 656 pp. [516] (listed a single specimen in the Banks collection); 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 [12] (referred to a holotype female in the Banks collection); Edwards, E.D., Newland, J. & Regan, L. 2001. Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea. In Wells, A. & Houston, W.W.K. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 31.6. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia. x 615 pp. (as Fabricius described the species from the Banks collection, and there is only one Banksian specimen, this is accepted as evidence for a holotype).

  Type locality references:

  Watkins, H.T.G. 1923. Notes on the butterflies of the Banks Collection. The Entomologist 56: 204-209 [205] (suggested Cooktown as the type locality); 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] (confirmed Cooktown as the likely type locality).
• Melanitis barnardi Lucas, T.P. 1892. On 34 new species of Australian Lepidoptera, with additional localities, &c. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 8(3): 68-94 [71].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) SAMA ♂, Rockhampton to Brisbane, QLD ('Rockhampton to Brisbane on coast line; never found inland', QLD, designated in original description); SAMA ♀
  Comment: Lucas in the original description mentioned both sexes.

 

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] [31]
• Edwards, E.D. 1996. Nymphalidae. pp. 243-248, 359-360 in Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. (eds). Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 4 xiv 529 pp. & CD-ROM. [243]

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Common and widespread on Torres Strait islands. Vagrant to New Zealand.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Other Regions

Lord Howe Island terrestrial & freshwater, Norfolk Island terrestrial & freshwater, Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Lord Howe Island
  • New South Wales: SE coastal
  • Norfolk Island
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal

Distribution References

Ecological Descriptors

Larva: herbivore.

 

General References

Braby, M.F. 1995. Seasonal changes in relative abundance and spatial distribution of Australian lowland tropical satyrine butterflies. Australian Journal of Zoology 43: 209-229 [209]

Braby, M.F. 1995. The distribution, status and habitat associations of the satyrine (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) fauna of northeastern Australia. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 34: 51-61 [51]

Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [319] (biology)

Donovan, E. 1805. An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of New Holland, New Zealand, New Guinea, Otaheite, and other Islands in the Indian, Southern, and Pacific Oceans: including Figures and Descriptions of One Hundred and Fifty-three Species of the more Splendid, Beautiful, and Interesting Insects, hitherto Discovered in those Countries, and which for the most Part have not appeared in the Works of any Preceding Author. London : Rivington iv + [167] pp. + [41] pls. [Date published January] [pl. 25 fig. 1] (incorrect subsequent spelling as banksia)

Masters, G. 1873. Catalogue of the Described Diurnal Lepidoptera of Australia. Sydney : Frederick White 24 pp. [15] (incorrect subsequent spelling as banksia)

Rainbow, W.J. 1907. A Guide to the Study of Australian Butterflies. Melbourne : T.C. Lothian 272 pp. [93] (biology)

Waterhouse, G.A. 1932. What Butterfly is That? A Guide to the Butterflies of Australia. Illustrated by Neville Cayley. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 291 pp. 34 pls. [Date published 15/Dec/1932] [109]

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] [31] (description, distribution)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
06-Sep-2017	PAPILIONOIDEA	19-Jul-2017	MODIFIED
05-Mar-2013		18-Aug-2015	MODIFIED
30-Mar-2012		30-Mar-2012	MODIFIED
		05-Apr-2011	MOVED