Luehdorfia taibai Chou, 1994

Introduction

Nothing is known about the life history of L. taibai.

Geographical Distribution

China: Shaanxi (Lee, 1982).

Geographical Variation

The nominal subspecies, L. taibai taibai Chou, 1994 (Type locality: Mt. Taibaishan, China) and the recently described L. t. wangi Zhao, 1997 (Type locality: China: Sichuan, Mt. Daba) are the only known subspecies of L. taibai (Zhao, 1997).

Larval Food Plant

The larval food plant records for L. taibai include Saruma henryi (Makita et al., 2000, Chunsheng, 2001), species of Asarum, and even Aristolochia spp. (Chou, 1994).

Nomenclature

The name Luehdorfia longicaudata Lee, 1982, often used instead of L. taibai, is invalid. It was used first in a paper by Lee (1982: 39), who only reported the distribution and living conditions of the three Luehdorfia taxa in China, and suggested scientific names for them (L. longicaudata, L. chinensis huashanensis, and L. puziloi lingjiangensis) without giving any descriptions of morphological and diagnostic characters, reference to any figures, or designation of any holotypes for these taxa. This is in violation of a number of ICZN (1999) articles and recommendations, and despite attempts to conserve these names, especially by Inomata (1995), they were all subsequently treated as synonyms of other taxa by Yuan (1995). The suggested - and widely accepted – alternative name for this species is L. taibai Chou, 1994, with the type locality "Mt. Taibaishan, China".

References

Chou, I., 1994. Monographia Rhopalocerum Sinensium. Volume 1: 408 pp. Henan Scientific and Technological Publishing House, China.

Chunsheng, W., 2001. Zhongguo dong wu zhi. Kun chong gang. Di 25 juan, Lin chi mu feng die ke : feng die ya ke, ju feng die ya ke, juan die ya ke / Wu Chunsheng bian zhu ; Zhongguo ke xue yuan Zhongguo dong wu zhi bian ji wei yuan hui zhu bian. Fauna Sinica, Insecta Vol. 25: Lepidoptera Papilionidae; Papilioninae, Zerynthiinae, Parnassiinae. Beijing, Ke xue chu ban she, 367 pp.

ICZN, 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th ed. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, c/o the Natural History Museum, London. 306 pp.

Inomata, T., 1995. On the original description of three Luehdorfia taxa in China (Papilionidae). Tyô to Ga 45: 239-241.

Lee, C., 1982. First report of distribution and living condition of three Luehdorfia from China. Yadoriga 107/108: 39.

Makita, H., Shinkawa, T., Kazumasa, O., Kondo, A., Nakazawa, T., 2000. Phylogeny of Luehdorfia butterflies inferred from mitochondrial ND5 gene sequences. Entomological Science 3: 321-329.

Yuan, X., 1995. Discussion about the original descriptions of three taxa of Luehdorfia from China. Entomotaxonomia 17: 313.

Zhao, 1997. Luehdorfia taibai wangi Zhao, 1997. In: Chao, L., Wang, H.Y., Lepidoptera of China 3: Papilionidae, Danaidae, Pieridae, Amathusidae.