Entomologists have described a new butterfly species with striking olive green eye color.
Ministrymon janevicroy (Robbins RK / Glassberg J.)
The new species has been named the Vicroy’s Ministreak (Ministrymon janevicroy) after Jane Vicroy Scott, wife of Dr Jeffrey Glassberg, President of the North American Butterfly Association, who discovered the new species.
Although specimens of Ministrymon janevicroy were deposited in the Smithsonian entomology collections about 100 years ago, this species was unrecognized because it was confused with the common, similar-looking Gray Ministreak (Ministrymon azia).
Interestingly what distinguishes the two species is the distinctive olive green eyes of the new species in contrast to the dark brown-black eyes of the Gray Ministreak.
Both species are diminutive, about the size of a thumbnail, and may occur at the same time and place.
Besides eye color, each has different wing patterns and different internal structures. They have different, but overlapping, geographic distributions and habitat requirements.
“Regardless of whether Vicroy’s Ministreak turns out to be the last truly distinctive butterfly to be discovered in the United States, the era of new butterfly species, which began with Linnaeus more than 250 years ago, is ending in the United States.”
“In tropical America, however, there are still hundreds upon hundreds of butterfly species awaiting discovery,” the scientists said.
The description of Ministrymon janevicroy appears in the opean-acces journal ZooKeys.
______
Bibliographic information: Robbins RK, Glassberg J. 2013. A butterfly with olive green eyes discovered in the United States and the Neotropics (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Eumaeini). ZooKeys 305: 1; doi: 10.3897/zookeys.305.5081
