Vol. 44 No. 1, 2005
A New Subspecies of Habrodais poodiae Brown (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Theclini) from Baja California, Mexico, Representing the Southernmost Distribution of the Nearctic Habrodais
Yu-Feng Hsu
Department of Life Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan 116
Yu-Feng Hsu (2005) Habrodais poodiae
Brown is one of only 3 species of the Theclini that occur in North
America, and it is the only member of the tribe that is endemic to
Mexico. Habrodais poodiae was
described from Sierra de Juárez in Baja California Norte, the
northeastern part of which represents the southern extension of the
Californian Phytogeographic Province. Additional populations of H. poodiae
occur in Sierra San Pedro Mártir, disjunct from and far to the south of
the type locality. These populations are phenotypically distinct from
those of the type locality, and are described herein as a new
subspecies, H. poodiae browni. This new subspecies represents the southernmost limit of the Nearctic Habrodais. The fact that H. poodiae
consists of 2 differentiated, geographically separated, and highly
restricted subspecies reveals it is likely derived from post-glacial
refugia of its sister species, H. grunus, which has a much-wider and more-northerly distribution.
Key words: Quercus chrysolepis, Canyon oak, Californian Province, Post-glacial withdrawal.
*Correspondence: Tel: 886-2-29326234 ext. 338. Fax: 886-2-29312904. E-mail: t43018@cc.ntnu.edu.tw
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