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1952
The Lepidopterists' News
91
A DRAFT KEY TO T AY GET IS (SATYRINAE)
by William T. M. Forbes
The genus Taygetis is wholly tropical American, and is one of the most striking of the family. While the species are not many, some of them are variable, and easy to confuse. The following key is not critical but is believed to be fairly correct. It is based mainly on the material in the Cornell University collection, supplemented by the literature, which happens to be rather less ambiguous than usual in the butterflies.
The genus Taygetis is used here in about the sense original with Hubner and corresponding to that of later authors, including Weymer in Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World and Gaede in Fascicle 46 of the Lepidopter-orum Catalogus. It is not definable on present knowledge, like many current Satyrid genera, but roughly represents large neotropical Satyrs with typical venation, appearance, and pattern, and most often hairy eyes. I have not indicated transferred generic position by parentheses about the author's name, for I consider that generic references in the Lepidoptera are up to now plastic and of no great significance. In this genus sexes are similar, and there is no need for special provisions for the females. Only two species show noticeable sex-scaline, which is on the disc of the hind wing, and only in T. zip-pora is it at all striking. Characters, where not otherwise indicated, are on the under side of the hind wing.
1. Hind wing with a tail at the end of M3, twice as long as wide; under side of
fore wing violet-blue subterminally .................... yphthima Hubner
Hind wing waved or scalloped, but without a definite tail; fore wing not blue subterminally ............................................ 2
2. Postmedial line of hind wing below sharply cusped at M3, and shaded beyond
with reddish; vein M3 lined with black to margin ........ angulosa Weymer
Postmedial line nearly straight, excurved or waved, not cusped ........ 3
3. A pale yellow longitudinal stripe from base of hind wing to beyond middle
.................................................... penelea Cramer
No yellow longitudinal stripe .......................... ......4
4. Postmedial line straight or slightly excurved, passing close beyond end of cell . 5 Postmedial line strongly excurved, more or less parallel to outer margin .... 20
5. Eyes naked; a large species (90 mm.) with falcate apex and sinuous outer margin
.................................................. mermeria Cramer
Eyes hairy, though sometimes minutely; species with acute apex never so large . . 6
6. Hind wing below with broad converging white ante- and postmedial bands
.................................................. albinotata Butler
Antemedial band not broad and white .......................... 7
7. Postmedial line above rather conspicuous and shaded beyond with whitish
.............................................. tripunctata Weymer
Postmedial line sometimes visible above, but ii so not followed by a pale shade . . 8
8. Male with black sex-scaling on hind wing; fore wing above with a conspicuous
but vague pale subapical area; pm. line below reaching costa at barely 3/5
length of wing .................................................. 9
Male rarely with pale apical shade, and if so pm. line much further out on under
side.......................................................... 10
9- Sex-scaling of male inconspicuous, diffuse and covering much of surface of hind
wing; under side wholly nearly black, without contrasts ...... echo Cramer
Sex-scaling on hind wing a rounded central patch; under side with prominent
markings of normal type ................................zippora Butler
10. Both wings below with basaJ two thirds nearly black, obliterating the am. line
and contrasting with the brown outer third ............... xenana Butler
Basal two thirds not black, the am. line easily visible ..............f..... 11
98
FORBES: Key to Taygetis
Vol.6, nos.6-8
11. Apex of fore wing acute, the outer margin sinuate and concave at Ro; am. line
extremely irregular, not contrasting ................................ 12
Apex of fore wing rounded over or obliquely truncate and bent or angled at R5, the margin at R5 never concave ............................ 13
12. Whitish shading beyond pm. line irregular and spotty, missing over cell M3
................................................ fulginia d'Almeida
Whitish shading beyond pm. line even, usually becoming somewhat narrower toward inner margin ......................... rectifascia Weymer
13. Border of hind wing above yellow and contrasting; a very'large species (90 mm.)
.................................. chrysogone Doubleday & Hewitson
Border of hind wing not light and strongly contrasting .............. 14
14. Ocelli of hind wing below inconspicuous and nearly reduced to white dots . . 15 Ocelli conspicuous, at least with well developed brown surrounding rings .... 16
15. Hind wing with an acute angle at Ms, and deeply and evenly concave below it
.................................................... acuta Weymer
Hind wing with the angle at M3 less marked, the margin below it slightly concave and waved .................................. virgilia Cramer
16. Am. line of fore wing stopping at lower edge of cell* ................ 17
Am. line clearly continued well below cell ............................ 19
17. Am. and pm. lines of hind wing fine and clear on an even brown ground
................................................... nympha Butler
Lines shaded with brown on side toward median area; ground often shaded or somewhat mottled ............................................... 18
18. Smaller, blacker, outer ring of ocelli very fine, well out and yellowish
................................................. inconspicua Draudt
Larger, paler, the anal ocellus and pm. line usually showing through; yellowish ring of ocelli broader and diffuse .................... andromeda Cramer
19. Smaller; ocelli ringed with black ........................ salvini Staudinger
Larger, ocelli diffusely ringed with brown ................ puritana Weeks
20. Hind wing with am., pm., st., and adt. dark lines on an even brown ground,
the ocelli represented at most by minute white points ...... inornata Felder
Ocelli more conspicuous, if reduced to white dots ground mottled or shaded . . 21
21. Fore wing subfalcate, concave over end of R5; pm. line of fore wing waved . . 22 Fore wing rounded over or truncate, the margin convex opposite Rs ........ 24
22. Hind wing below with a large proportion of coal black, the cell iridescent pea-
cock blue .......................................... larua Felder
Hind wing otherwise; without any iridescent scaling .................. 23
23. Hind wing deeply scalloped; ground dark umber.......... artnillata Butler
Hind wing moderately scalloped; under side mottled gray, including outer half
of cell .................................................... jimna Butler
24. Postmedial line of fore wing regularly scalloped; two of the ocelli with large
black rings ........................................ valentina Cramer
Postmedial line of fore wing not scalloped; only the lower ocellus (in cell Cui), if either with large black ring .............................. 25
25. Postmedial line of fore wing concave, its upper and lower ends extending out-
side line of white dots representing ocelli ............ banghaasi Weymer
Postmedial line of fore wing more or less excurved; its ends not approaching subterminal area ................................................ 26
26. Larger species; pm. line of fore wing heavily shaded with brown and angled
opposite cell ................................................. 27
Smaller species; pm. line more sharply defined and not angled opposite cell . . 28
27. Angle of pm. line lengthened into a triangular point opposite lower angle of
cell, almost interrupting the pale st. area; and concave below . . uncinata Weymer Pm. line merely bluntly angled, nearly straight above and below . . celia Cramer
28. Pm. line moderately excurved on both wings; ground deep brown . . kerea Butler Pm. strongly excurved on fore wing and sharply bent on hind wing;, ground
normally mottled light gray .......................... weymeri Draudt.
Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., U.S.A.
*Not stated in description of inconspicua, which is compared with andromeda.