''Hyantis'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

nymphalid The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a redu ...

butterfly genus. Its sole species is ''Hyantis hodeva'', which is found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. It is uncertain which

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

this butterfly should be placed within.

Distribution

The species is distributed in the following islands: New Guinea,

Waigeo Waigeo is an island in Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi, or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about to the north-wes ...

Misool Misool, formerly spelled Mysol (Dutch: Misoöl) or Misol, is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. Its area is 2,034 km2. The highest point is 561 m and the main towns are Waigama, locate ...

Yapen Yapen (also Japan, Jobi) is an island of Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is Mios Num Islan ...

and

D'Entrecasteaux Islands D'Entrecasteaux Islands () are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of , has a total land area of approximately and is separated from the Papua New G ...

Morphology

Hyantis hodeva Illustrations of new species of exotic butterflies Drusilla & Hyantis

The species has three pairs of six well-developed

ocellus A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-le ...

on the ventral side of the

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

: one pair on the forewings near the apex and two pairs on the hindwings. Each eyespot is large and bordered with yellow, and the black "pupil" has plural small white dots inside. This species is similar to ''

Taenaris ''Taenaris'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Nymphalidae, subfamily Amathusiinae, that distributed throughout Australasia with a majority of species being located on the island of New Guinea. They are commonly known as the owl butterflie ...

'', but can be easily identified from that genus, which generally has only two or four ocellus with single white spot on its hindwings. This species is also unique in having a closed discoidal cell on each hindwing. This morphological character is also shared by the genus '' Morphopsis'' and is generally found in the subfamily

Satyrinae The Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the browns, are a subfamily of the Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies). They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known diver ...

. The early stage is unknown.

Mimicry

This species is very similar to ''Taenaris'' species, especially '' T. catops''. ''Hyantis'' is also imitated by ''

Mycalesis drusillodes ''Mycalesis'', the bushbrowns, are a genus of brush-footed butterflies. They are common in the warm regions from Central Asia to Australia, and have a high diversity in South Asia and the Wallacea. They are notably polymorphic, with wet- and dr ...

'' (

Satyrini The Satyrini is one of the tribes of the subfamily Satyrinae. It includes about 2200 species and is therefore the largest tribe in the subfamily which comprises 2500 species. Distribution Satyrini butterflies have a worldwide distribution, ...

), ''Taenaris'' by ''

Elymnias agondas ''Elymnias agondas'', the palmfly, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It was described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1832. It is Endemism, endemic to New Guinea and neighbouring Cape York Peninsula, Cape York in the Australasian realm.Adal ...

'' (

Elymniini The Elymniini is one of the tribes of the subfamily Satyrinae. If the subfamily Satyrinae elevate to family status, this tribe shall be treated as subfamily Elymniinae. Elymniini was formerly a large group, but recently, it is considered to be ...

). It should be considered that these species may be involved in some kind of

mimicry complex In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...

, but the details are not known.

Systematics

The genus ''Hyantis'' (and putatively related ''Morphopsis'') has traditionally been placed within tribe Amathusiini, even though there are differences in wing venation structures. Recent

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analyses have been gradually resolved the confusion in the phylogenetic relationships in the subfamily Satyrinae, but the phylogenetic status of this genus remains confused, with several methods of analysis showing different results. For example: within the clade of

Melanitini The Melanitini (evening browns and relatives) are one of the smaller tribes of the Satyrinae in the Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterfly) family. They contain the following genera: * '' Aeropetes'' Billberg, 1820 - sometimes placed in Satyrini * ...

+ Dirini ( Peña & Wahlberg 2008), appears to be related with ''

Elymnias The palmflies are a common Asian butterfly genus found from India to the Solomon Islands. The caterpillars mimic leaves which they feed on. The adults mimic certain species (for example: '' E. cumaea'' looks like '' Melanitis leda''). Specie ...

'' , as

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to Amathusiini ( Wahlberg et al. 2009, Fig.5s) and within Zetherini ( Wahlberg et al. 2009, Fig.3s and Penz 2017). In any case, further studies are needed to clarify the phylogenetic position of this genus.

Classification

This species contains 3 to 5 subspecies. The lower classification shown here is according to , which recognizes 4 subspecies. ; ''Hyantis'' Hewitson, 1862 :* ''Hyantis hodeva'' Hewitson, 1862 ::* ''Hyantis hodeva hodeva'' Hewitson, 1862 ::* ''Hyantis hodeva helvola'' Stichel, 1905 (

syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

''Hyantis hodeva hageni'' Röber, 1903) ::* ''Hyantis hodeva fulginosa'' Grose-Smith, 1898 (syn. ''Hyantis hodeva xanthophthalma'' Röber, 1903) ::* ''Hyantis hodeva emarginata'' Fruhstorfer, 1916

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * ** * ** **

External links

''Hyantis hodeva'' Hewitson 1862
at the Tree of Life web project
''Hyantis'' Hewitson, 1862
at Lepidoptera and some other life forms

/nowiki>] i
the Web Monograph about tribe Amathusini (in Japanese)
Amathusiini Monotypic butterfly genera Butterflies described in 1862 Taxa named by William Chapman Hewitson Nymphalidae genera {{Morphinae-stub