New records of two lycaenid butterfly species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in China, with the description of a new subspecies

Abstract

Background The family Lycaenidae is the second-largest group of butterflies which contains about one third of the known species of Papilionoidea. The genera Tajuria Moore, [1881] and Drupadia Moore, 1884 are both mainly found in the Oriental and Australian realms. In a very recent expedition to south-west China in Xishuangbanna (Yunnan Province), specimens of T. sekii Saito, 2005 and D. scaeva (Hewitson, 1869) were collected for the first time, a new subspecies of the former: T. sekii sisyphus ssp. nov., is described and illustrated and the latter species comprises the first record of the genus Drupadia in China. New information A new subspecies of T. sekii Saito, 2005, T. sekii sisyphus ssp. nov., is described and illustrated. The species T. sekii Saito, 2005 and D. scaeva (Hewitson, 1869) are first recorded in China and the latter comprises the first record of the genus Drupadia in China. Relevant details are presented for the species.