The identity of Alfred Wallace’s mysterious butterfly taxon Lycaena nisa solved: Famegana nisa comb. nov., a senior synonym of F. alsulus (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Polyommatinae)

By

Hsu, Yu-Feng

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

966

Pages

153--162

Subjects

Famegana alsulus , Formosa , lectotype designation , Lycaena alsulus , new synonymy , Taiwan , Zizera taiwana

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.966.51921

 

Abstract

Lycaena nisaWallace, 1866 was described from Formosa (Taiwan) and is here recognized as a senior subjective synonym ofLycaena alsulusHerrich-Schäffer, 1869. It is resurrected to serve as the valid name,Famegana nisa(Wallace, 1866),comb nov.of the species commonly known asFamegana alsulus. The nameZizera taiwanaSonan, 1938 (syn. nov.), also described from Formosa, is recognized as a junior subjective synonym ofL. nisa. Another name,Zizeeria alsulus eggletoniCorbet, 1941 (syn. nov.), described from Hong Kong is also considered a junior subjective synonym ofL. nisa. Moreover, all former synonyms ofalsulusautomatically become new junior synonyms fornisa. This species occurs in the Oriental and Australian regions and western Pacific.