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