Provisional checklist of genera of the Pieridae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea)
Author
Braby, Michael F.
text
Zootaxa
2005
832
1
16
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.170669
cc432084-63d9-4ab2-a3aa-8e2efc7b740a
11755326
170669
Pierinae
: Anthocharidini
Klots (1933)
recommended that
Falcapica
Klots
be adopted as a subgenus of the Holarctic
Anthocharis
Boisduval, Rambur, Duménil & Graslin
to accommodate a small group of species in which the apex of the forewing is falcate. The taxon is otherwise poorly differentiated, and
Bridges (1988)
indicated that
Falcapica
is a synonym of
Paramidea
Kuznetzov.
Klots (1933)
also proposed that the northern AfricanPalaearctic
Elphinstonia
Klots
(with
type
species
charlonia
Donzel
) be regarded as a subgenus of
Euchloe
Hübner.
Ackery
et al
. (1995)
, however, discarded this concept and treated
Elphinstonia
as a synonym of
Euchloe
.
Klots (1933: 173)
tentatively treated the Neotropical taxa
Mathania
Oberthür
and
Cunizza
Grote
as subgenera of
Hesperocharis
C. Felder
, although acknowledged that evidence supporting such an arrangement was weak.
Lamas (2005)
, however, provisionally treated
Mathania
and
Cunizza
as distinct genera pending further investigation of their monophyly. A recent molecular analysis (Braby
et al
., unpublished data) showed that
Hesperocharis
,
Cunizza
and
Mathania
comprise a wellsupported monophyletic group with the following relationship:
Cunizza
+ (
Hesperocharis
+
Mathania
).
Klots (1933: 173)
, in discussing the status of
Mathania
and
Cunizza
, stated that “it is apparent that the former separations of these genera have been based upon very superficial characters, and that in a broad classification their positions as even subgenera are none too secure…there remain only pattern characters which are hardly of the caliber required for generic or even subgeneric separation.” The pupal morphology of
Hesperocharis
and
Mathania
are remarkably similar (Braby & Nishida, unpublished data) and it may be wiser to treat
Mathania
, and probably
Cunizza
, as subordinate taxa of
Hesperocharis
. However, a detailed systematic revision of the group is needed before they are placed in synonymy or treated as subgenera.