Fossil butterflies, calibration points and the molecular clock (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea)
Author
Jong, Rienk De
text
Zootaxa
2017
4270
1
1
63
journal article
32975
10.5281/zenodo.583183
6c479acc-8b18-4f0b-a6e5-85bcd6d7b6b7
1175-5326
583183
2D00AFF5-4FE2-4EC1-A328-C8670CFB8D6D
japonica
.
Hestina japonica
(C. et R. Felder, 1862)
Nymphalidae
:
Apaturinae
.
Japan
,
Tochigi
Pref., Shiobara; late Pleistocene, 37,800 BP. Same locality as the fossil of
Papilio
(cf)
maacki
Ménétries
, see below.
Depository: NSMT (one specimen, PA12228).
Published figures: Illustrations of the extant species can be found in many books on
East
Asian butterflies.
Fujiyama (1983)
reported on finding of the proximal half of a left forewing of which the basal part was missing. The open forewing cell and the branching off of the median veins are quite visible, as well as white patches and streaks. Venation and wing design agree completely with those of
Hestina japonica
, an extant species widely distributed in Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. If this wing fragment had been found in a spider web, nobody would have doubted its identity.