• Pithecops Horsfield, T. 1828. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Lepidopterous Insects contained in the Museum of the Honourable East-India Company, illustrated by coloured figures of new species and of the metamorphosis of Indian Lepidoptera, with introductory observations on a general arrangement of this order of insects. London : Parbury, Allen and Co. Pt 1 Vol. 1 80 pp. [66] [placed on the Official List of Generic Names No. 1763; Hemming, F. 1967. The generic names of the butterflies and their type-species (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology Suppl. 9: 1–509 [364] discussed nomenclatural problems].

  Type species:

   Pithecops corax Fruhstorfer, 1919 by designation under Plenary Powers, see International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1967. Opinion 822. Pithecops Horsfield, [1828] (Insecta, Lepidoptera): Designation of a type species under the plenary powers. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 24(4): 216-217 [Date published September, 1967] [216] (ICZN ruling on type species designation, Opinion No. 822).
• Eupsychellus Röber, J.K.M. 1891. Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Indo-Australischen Lepidopterenfauna. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 34: 261-334 [316].

  Type species:

   Lycaena dionisius Boisduval, 1832 by monotypy.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Cowan, C.F. 1966. The nomenclature of Pithecops corvus and allied species (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 13 8: 421-425 [422]
• Hirowatari, T. 1992. A generic classification of the tribe Polyommatini of the Oriental and Australian regions (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Polyommatinae). Bulletin of the University of Osaka Prefecture B 44(Suppl.): 1-102 [56]

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA

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

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
• Indonesia
  • Aru Islands
  • Irian Jaya
  • Kei Islands
  • Maluku
• Papua New Guinea
• Solomon Islands

Oriental Region

General References

Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [589]

Cowan, C.F. 1966. The nomenclature of Pithecops corvus and allied species (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 13 8: 421-425 [421]

Eliot, J.N. 1973. The higher classification of the Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera): a tentative arrangement. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 28(6): 371-505 [448]

Hirowatari, T. 1992. A generic classification of the tribe Polyommatini of the Oriental and Australian regions (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Polyommatinae). Bulletin of the University of Osaka Prefecture B 44(Suppl.): 1-102 [56]

Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp. [460]

History of changes

Taxonomic Decision for Subspecies Arrangement

• Edwards, E.D. 1996. Lycaenidae. pp. 249-254, 360-363 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. [362]

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Extralimital distribution—Indonesia (Aru Islands, Irian Jaya, Kei Islands, Maluku), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands.

IBRA

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

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
• Indonesia
  • Aru Islands
  • Irian Jaya
  • Kei Islands
  • Maluku
• Papua New Guinea
• Solomon Islands

Ecological Descriptors

Larva: herbivore.

Extra Ecological Information

Larval food plants not recorded from Australia, but on mainland New Guinea larvae feed on flowers and green seed pods of Desmodium ormocarpoides (Fabaceae) which also occurs in N QLD.

General References

Cowan, C.F. 1966. The nomenclature of Pithecops corvus and allied species (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 13 8: 421-425 [422]

Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp. [461]

History of changes

• Lycaena dionisius Boisduval, J.B.A.D. de 1832. Voyage de Découvertes de l'Astrolabe exécuté par Ordre du Roi, Pendant les Années 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le Commandement de M.J. Dumont D'Urville. Faune entomologique de l'Océan Pacifique, avec l'illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le Voyage. Part 1. Lépidoptères. Paris : J. Tastu iv, 267 pp. [publication date: Sherborn, C.D. & Woodward, B.B. 1901. Dates of publication of the zoological and botanical portions of some French voyages. Dumont d'Urville's Voyage de l'Astrolabe. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 8: 333 [333]] [82].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown ♂, New Guinea (as Nouvelle-Guinée in original description)
  Comment: Boisduval in the original description did not indicate the number of specimens described; Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp. [461] (referred to a holotype and gave sex of the specimen he referred to).

  Type locality references:

  Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp.

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Extralimital distribution—Indonesia (Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea.

IBRA

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

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
• Indonesia
  • Irian Jaya
• Papua New Guinea

Ecological Descriptors

Larva: herbivore.

General References

Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [589]

Dunn, K.L. & Dunn, L.E. 1991. Review of Australian Butterflies: distribution, life history and taxonomy. Family Lycaenidae. Melbourne : K. & L. Dunn Vol. 3 336-512 pp. [422]

Hiller, A. & d'Apice, J.W.C. 1979. First record of the butterfly Pithecops dionisius dionisius (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from the Australian mainland. Australian Entomological Magazine 6: 10-12

Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp. [461]

Parsons, M.J. 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea; their systematics and biology. San Diego : Academic Press 736 pp. [461] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement synonymised many subspecies but without thorough examination)

History of changes