Orecta lycidas subsp. eos (Burmeister, 1878)

STAT. REV. Synonymized with Ambulyx lycidas by Burmeister, 1878, Atlas Descr. physique République Argentine 5 (Lépid.) (2): 58. Reinstated as a species by Kirby, 1892, Synonymic Cat. Lepid. Heterocera 1: 675. Resynonymized with Orecta lycidas as a subspecies by Rothschild & Jordan, 1903, Novit. zool. 9 (suppl.): 187. Resynonymized with the nominotypical subspecies by Kitching and Rougerie et al., 2018, Biodivers. Data J. 6: e22236. Originally, DNA barcodes of specimens from near Buenos Aires were found to nest within a cluster of those from various localities in SE Brazil. Furthermore, it was considered that the purported diagnostic wing pattern characters all fall within the range of individual variation of this highly variable species. Consequently, it was considered that there was no justification for retaining Orecta lycidas eos as a separate subspecies and it was synonymized with the nominotypical subspecies by Kitching and Rougerie et al. (2018) (STI 21830). However, further study has shown that although Orecta lycidas is a variable species in habitus, specimens from eastern Argentina and Uruguay do, in general, have a forewing subbasal band that appears slightly more oblique and tapers to a rounded or pointed tip, rather than having the broader and slightly spatulate apex found in Brazilian specimens. In addition, samples of Orecta lycidas from Entre Rios, eastern Argentina, comprise a separate BIN (ACE6201) from samples of Orecta lycidas from SE Brazil (BIN AAC8134) and the recently reinstated Orecta tithonus (BIN ABY8494). Consequently, pending further detailed study, Orecta lycidas eos is here provisionally reinstated once more as a valid subspecies of Orecta lycidas.