Species Telicota paceka Fruhstorfer, 1911

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Introduction

Telicota paceka Fruhstorfer, 1911
Evans (1949) and Braby (2000) recognized T. mesoptis Lower, 1911 and T. paceka Fruhstorfer, 1911 as two distinct species. However, Parsons (1998) considered T. mesoptis and its four subspecies to be conspecific with, and a junior subjective synonym of, T. paceka based on a study of specimens held in the AMS, ANIC, NHML, and those he had personally collected, and a study of the male genitalia, which were found to be identical, a finding which confirmed an earlier observation by Evans (1949) who remarked that the male genitalia of T. mesoptis resembled exactly that of T. paceka. Braby and Beaver (2022) reviewed the type status and nomenclature of mesoptis in Australia and concluded that Parsons’ hypothesis of a single species for the complex was justified and recommended that the current nomenclature for Lower’s taxon in Australia is T. paceka mesoptis Lower, 1911. Telicota paceka Fruhstorfer was published on 1 March 1911, whereas T. mesoptis Lower was published in December 1911, thus the former has priority (G. Lamas, pers. conn. 2020). Hence, T. paceka now comprises a total of five subspecies: T. mesoptis halma Evans 1934 from the Lesser Sunda Islands (Flores) and Maluku (Halmahera, Obi, Ternate, Batjan); T. paceka paceka Fruhstorfer, 1911 from northern lowland mainland New Guinea; T. paceka affinis Rothschild, 1915 throughout southern mainland New Guinea, Mysol and Waigeo, Indonesia, and the Torres Strait Islands; T. paceka cadmus Evans, 1934 from Goodenough and Fergusson Islands, PNG; and T. paceka mesoptis Lower, 1911 from north-eastern Australia (excluding the Torres Strait), and apparently on the Aru and Kai Islands.

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

General References

Braby, M.F. & Beaver, E.P. 2022. The nomenclature and type status of Telicota paceka mesoptis Lower, 1911 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Records of the Australian Museum 74: 99–102 [Date published 27 April 2022]

Evans, W.H. 1949. A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia and Australia in the British Museum (Natural History). London : British Museum xix 502 pp. 53 pls.

Meyer, C.E., Brown, S.S., Miller, C.G. & Weir, R.P. 2022. Occurrence of Telicota paceka affinis Rothschild, 1915 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae) in Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. Australian Entomologist 49(2): 93–98

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

History of changes