Visiting Ladakh Himalaya for a better knowledge of butterflies: new faunistic data with annotations (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea).

The present study enumerates 65 species of Papilionoidea from the Ladakh Himalaya with the geographical locations and adult flight data. All the species are documented by museum vouchers. Most of the species recorded, have restricted distribution or they are endemic to the Pamir-NW Himalaya region. Sixteen species are protected in the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; three species highly protected under schedule I: Baltia butleri, Pieris krueperi, Lasiommata menava; and others under schedule II: Papilio machaon, Parnassius charltonius, Parnassius epaphus, Colias ladakensis, Colias eogene, Colias stoliczkana, Pieris deota, Pontia chloridice, Alpherakya devanica, Pamiria metallica, Paralasa mani, Paralasa kalinda and Polygonia c-album. We report lower occurrences for the endemic Pieris deota, where the migrant Pontia chloridice is reported to fly at more than 600 m higher than earlier records indicated. Lastly, the male and female genitalia of some endemic and rare species are illustrated, including Euchloe daphalis.

Geography of Indian Butterflies: Patterns Revealed by Checklists of Federal States.

Butterflies are widely used to analyze biogeographical patterns, both at the global and regional scales. Thus far, most of the latter originated from well-surveyed northern regions, while the species-rich tropical areas lag due to a lack of appropriate data. We used checklists of 1379 butterfly species recorded in 36 federal states of the Republic of India (1) to explore the basic macroecological rules, and (2) to relate species richness and the distribution of endemics and geographic elements to geography, climate, land covers and socioeconomic conditions of the states. The area, land covers diversity and latitude did not affect species richness, whereas topographic diversity and the precipitation/temperature ratio (energy availability) were positive predictors. This is due the geographic and climatic idiosyncrasies of the Indian subcontinent, with its highest species richness in the small, densely forested mountainous northeast that receives summer monsoons. The peninsular effect that decreases the richness towards the tip of subcontinent is counterbalanced by the mountainous forested Western Ghats. Afrotropical elements are associated with savannahs, while Palearctic elements are associated with treeless habitats. The bulk of Indian butterfly richness, and the highest conservation priorities, overlap with global biodiversity hotspots, but the mountainous states of the Western Himalayas and the savannah states of peninsular India host distinctive faunas.

Revision of the "celia clade" of Pseudodebis Forster, 1964, with Two New Species and Notes on Papilio phorcys Fabricius, 1793 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae).

The species-level classification of the "celia clade" of the nymphalid butterfly genus Pseudodebis Forster, 1964, is revised as part of ongoing revisionary work on this genus. The "celia clade" contains three species, of which two, Pseudodebis darrenthroopi Nakahara & Willmott, n. sp. and P. tigrillo Nakahara & Willmott, n. sp., are described and named herein based on morphology and molecular data. Consequently, we increase the described species diversity of Pseudodebis to 13, with a remarkable six species occurring in the trans-Andean region. We discuss five specific epithets associated with the clade and designate a neotype for Papilio celia Cramer, 1780, and lectotype for Taygetis keneza Butler, 1869, based on the same specimen, thus retaining the status of the former name as a senior objective synonym. We also provide a brief historical review for Papilio phorcys Fabricius, 1793, an enigmatic name currently synonymized under Papilio celia. Nevertheless, we were unable to locate the syntype(s) for this name and the identity of Papilio phorcys remains uncertain, so we retain the current synonymy as a parsimonious approach.

Taxonomy and ecology of genus Psyra Walker, 1860 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae) from Indian Himalaya.

The Psyra Walker, 1860, is a typical Sino-Himalayan genus of the subfamily Ennominae, currently known by 18 species/4 subspecies globally and 9 species from India. This study aims to revise the taxonomy and ecology of Indian Psyra by providing a morphology-based diagnostic key, highlighting their altitudinal, habitat and seasonal preferences, and modelling their distribution based on current and future climatic scenarios. Here, we describe a new species, P. variabilis sp. nov. and document 4 species and 1 subspecies as new to India, viz. P. gracilis, P. szetschwana, P. dsagara, P. falcipennis and P. debilis debilis, thus updating the global species count to 19 with 14 species/1 subspecies from India. We also submitted partial mitochondrial COI sequences of P. crypta, P. similaria, P. spurcataria and P. gracilis as novel to the global genetic database and calculated the overall genetic divergence was 5.17% within the genus, suggesting strong monophyly. Being a typical montane genus, most of the species of Psyra were active within 2000-2280 m altitude, 10.55-15.7°C annual mean temperature, 1200-2300 mm annual precipitation and 168-179 NDVI. Psyra species were predominant in wet temperate, mixed coniferous and moist temperate deciduous forests, their abundance and richness being at peak during post-monsoon months of October-November. The major bioclimatic variables influencing the overall distribution of the genus were mean temperature of warmest quarter, temperature seasonality and precipitation of coldest/driest quarter. While two of the modelled species were predicted to lose area occupancy under future climatic scenarios, the narrow-specialist, Trans-Himalayan species P. debilis debilis was projected to gain up to 75% additional area in the years 2041-60. The results of this study will be helpful to identify sites with maximum area loss projection in ecologically fragile Indian Himalaya and initiating conservation management for such climatically vulnerable insect species groups.

A new species of the genus Pieris Schrank, 1801 (Lepidoptera: Pieridae: Pierinae) with taxonomic notes on the Pieris napi group from India.

A new species, Pieris tadokoroi, sp. nov. is described from Himachal Pradesh, India. The new species is closely similar to those of the Pieris napi group and can be diagnosed by its smaller size and a broad apical forewing patch. Based on the recently collected material, the Pieris napi group from India is reviewed. The male and female genitalia are analyzed and illustrated, including the first description of the female genitalia of Pieris extensa bhutya Talbot, 1939. Androconia of all the related species are studied and described.

Taxonomic notes on the jalaurida-subgroup of the genus Lethe (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae).

In this paper, Lethe (Zophoessa) jalaurida (de Nicéville, 1881) and its relatives, viz. the jalaurida-subgroup (sura-group), are studied. A new species, L. giancbi Lang Das sp. nov. which was identified as L. elwesi (Moore, 1892) by Lang Bozano (2015) and Lang (2017), is described from SE Tibet, China. Lethe elwesi houjiangae Lang Bozano, 2015 and L. jalaurida gelduba Fruhstorfer, 1911 are raised to specific status, viz. L. houjiangae stat. nov. and L. gelduba stat. nov. respectively. Lethe jalaurida plistia Fruhstorfer, 1911 is considered as an unnecessary replacement name of L. jalaurida gelduba. Lethe jalaurida nuolaensis Huang, 2001 is found to be a subspecies of L. gelduba stat. nov., viz. L. gelduba nuolaensis stat. nov.