Two new species of Catasticta BUTLER, 1870 from Peru (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

Abstract

our knowledge of the Andean lepidopterological fauna is still far from complete, and sampling of remote or poorly sampled areas still throws up novelties. Although the genus Catasticta BUTLER, 1870 has been studied in the past by various authors, and extensive material is preserved in most public collections, its taxonomy is not completely understood and new taxa can be discovered from time to time. Thanks to the cooperation of Tomasz PYRCZ and some Peruvian field collectors, I had the opportunity to examine long series of Catasticta collected in Junín and Cuzco (Peru). The genus is taxonomically quite complex, and only the comparison of long series from different localities allowed me to identify two hitherto undescribed taxa. To give the reader an idea of what is involved, I examined more than 5,000 Catasticta collected over a period of 3 years along the road from Abra Acjanaco to Pillcopata in order to get to know the local fauna, and to ensure that what I felt was a new species was really so; I describe it here as: