tithonus

1. Ssp. tithonus De Haan, 1840¹⁾ [♂] [♀: (Rothschild, 1897¹⁵⁾)]

= prominens (Joicey & Noakes, 1916¹⁰⁾) [♀] (Mt. Momi (4,000 ft), Irian Jaya)

= makikoae Morita, 1998¹³⁾ [♂, ♀] (Timika, Irian Jaya)

= erwini Schäffler, 2001¹⁷⁾ [♂, ♀] (Sorong District, Irian Jaya)

(Distribution) [Map 42]

INDONESIA [Irian Jaya] Salawati Is., Doberai Peninsula (Sorong, Katimin II, Klamono), Berau Bay area, Onin Peninsula (Fakfak*), Bomberai Peninsula (Mt. Aigah (=Momi)), Kamrau Bay area, Arguni Bay area (Gusi), Lake Yamur area, Hamuku (=Wanggar River basin), Nabire, Wapoga River basin, Timika, Otakwa River basin. (*Original description does not give the exact location of the collection but lists as S.W. coast of New Guinea.)

(Episodes of discovery and original description)

It was first described by De Haan (1840). He based his description on a single ♂ collected by Müller in southwestern New Guinea. For a long time afterwards, the ♀ remained undiscovered, and it was thought that it might be the ♀ of O. victoriae, collected by Macgillivray on Guadalcanal Island in 1856. However, this problem was solved when a true ♀ was collected by a Malay collector and a ♂ by Woodford the following year in 1886. Rothschild (1895), who had doubts about the collecting locality of De Haan’s holotype, confirmed for the first time that De Haan was correct when Doherty collected one ♂ and two ♀♀ specimens at Kapaulu. Tithonus is the name of the husband of the goddess Aurora, son of Laomedon, king of Troia. He was loved by Eros, who gave him immortality, but he was disfigured because he did not seek immortality and was transformed into a grasshopper (Greek mythology).

(Characteristics)

The subspecies from the relatively lowlands of Irian Jaya.

(Spotted pattern)

♂: Except for ssp. cytherea, it is difficult to accurately identify the other subspecies, considering individual variation.

♀: Wing color blackish brown, and the spots are almost pure white with a few scattered black scales. FW are of moderate size with all spots. HW is characterized by large pale band with pure white basally and white scales covering the wing veins. The submarginal area is ochre.

(Variation)

♂-f. sineaurum Deslisle, 2004⁴⁾: [Aberrant FW pattern] Typical semi-translucent golden spot within the radial band (space 7) missing.

♂-f. jeannoti Deslisle & Sclavo, 2015⁷⁾: [Aberrant HW pattern] Presence of one or two atypical black patches within the cell or/and space 4 discally. (➡misresiana )

♀-f. splendidus Deslisle & Sclavo, 2015⁷⁾: [Aberrant FW/HW pattern] Enormously enlarged pale area on both FW/HW. On FW, greatly enlarged pale patches are similar to the underside pattern of ♂. On HW, pale band is greatly invading to dark basal area, but dark discal spots are very small or missing.