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Home » Taxonomy » Sphingidae » Sphinginae » Sphingini » "Psilogramma genus-group" » Psilogramma » Psilogramma menephron » Psilogramma menephron subsp. frankenbachi - Eitschberger, 2001
Taxonomy
Psilogramma menephron subsp. frankenbachi Eitschberger, 2001
Nomenclature
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Genus: PsilogrammaSpecies: Psilogramma menephron
Subspecies:
Psilogramma menephron subsp. frankenbachi Eitschberger, 2001
Usage:
valid
Reference:
Type data:
HOLOTYPE ♂ Indonesia: Sulawesi, Selatan [Sulawesi Selatan], Palolo, 800m, iv.1999 [coll. Eitschberger].
Taxonomic Notes:
Synonymized with Psilogramma menephron as a subspecies by Kitching and Rougerie et al., 2018, Biodivers. Data J. 6: e22236.
Psilogramma frankenbachi was said to differ from other Psilogramma in the very dark coloration (which is typical of the Sulawesi populations of many species of Sphingidae), the very long and thin saccus, the apical “fishtail” process of the phallus ending in one large and one barely discernible point,and unspecified differences in the shape of the lamella antevaginalis. These structural features are highly variable individually within Psilogramma species and not indicative of species status. Consequently, they provide no justification for maintaining Psilogramma frankenbachi as a species.
However, Psilogramma frankenbachi does have a longer a less rounded forewing than Psilogramma menephron menephron and together with the generally darker pattern (although this is not as consistent as suggested in the original description) this is considered here to be sufficient justification for treating it as a subspecies of Psilogramma menephron.
DNA barcoding shows that the populations on the Banggai and Sula Islands are slightly divergent from those on the main island of Sulawesi but in the absence of any consistent morphological differences, they are all treated here as Psilogramma menephron frankenbachi.
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Synonyms: 1