Preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879 in Lampedusa (Italy) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Research visits to the island of Lampedusa yielded a number of adult specimens belonging to the “machaoncomplex”, which, on closer examination of specific diagnostic features (including antennal segments, ocelli and number of teeth on the male harpe) have been found to possess morphological charact...

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Main Authors: L. F. Cassar, A. Catania
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedad Hispano-Luso-Americana de Lepidopterología 2022-06-01
Series:SHILAP
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Online Access:https://shilap.org/revista/article/view/139
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author L. F. Cassar
A. Catania
author_facet L. F. Cassar
A. Catania
author_sort L. F. Cassar
collection DOAJ
description Research visits to the island of Lampedusa yielded a number of adult specimens belonging to the “machaoncomplex”, which, on closer examination of specific diagnostic features (including antennal segments, ocelli and number of teeth on the male harpe) have been found to possess morphological characters akin to Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879, as well as to P. machaon Linnaeus, 1758, and including intermediate forms. Early stages, comprising ova and larvae, were also collected and reared, while several ova deposited by a gravid female taken in the field subsequently reached pupal stage. Ova are noticeably smaller, while larvae and pupae exhibit characters atypical of P. machaon. The present work examines a number of potential scenarios and provides a critique based on morphometric features of a suite of specimens examined, as well as on the history of eustatic sea-levels changes during the Quaternary Period that may potentially have abetted the species to reach Lampedusa during low-stands, before being left isolated during interglacial high-stands as sea-levels fluctuated during the Pleistocene epoch. 
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spelling doaj-art-45527d8f33d74e51ab240a2361d6de9b2025-07-24T08:38:00ZengSociedad Hispano-Luso-Americana de LepidopterologíaSHILAP2340-40782022-06-015019810.57065/shilap.139Preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879 in Lampedusa (Italy) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)L. F. Cassar0A. Catania1University of MaltaIndependent Research Research visits to the island of Lampedusa yielded a number of adult specimens belonging to the “machaoncomplex”, which, on closer examination of specific diagnostic features (including antennal segments, ocelli and number of teeth on the male harpe) have been found to possess morphological characters akin to Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879, as well as to P. machaon Linnaeus, 1758, and including intermediate forms. Early stages, comprising ova and larvae, were also collected and reared, while several ova deposited by a gravid female taken in the field subsequently reached pupal stage. Ova are noticeably smaller, while larvae and pupae exhibit characters atypical of P. machaon. The present work examines a number of potential scenarios and provides a critique based on morphometric features of a suite of specimens examined, as well as on the history of eustatic sea-levels changes during the Quaternary Period that may potentially have abetted the species to reach Lampedusa during low-stands, before being left isolated during interglacial high-stands as sea-levels fluctuated during the Pleistocene epoch.  https://shilap.org/revista/article/view/139LepidopteraPapilionidaeMorphometricsPapilio machaonThermo-Mediterranean zonePelagian Islands
spellingShingle L. F. Cassar
A. Catania
Preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879 in Lampedusa (Italy) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
SHILAP
Lepidoptera
Papilionidae
Morphometrics
Papilio machaon
Thermo-Mediterranean zone
Pelagian Islands
title Preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879 in Lampedusa (Italy) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
title_full Preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879 in Lampedusa (Italy) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
title_fullStr Preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879 in Lampedusa (Italy) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
title_full_unstemmed Preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879 in Lampedusa (Italy) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
title_short Preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of Papilio saharae Oberthür, 1879 in Lampedusa (Italy) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
title_sort preliminary findings on the presence of a taxon with morphological traits of papilio saharae oberthur 1879 in lampedusa italy lepidoptera papilionidae
topic Lepidoptera
Papilionidae
Morphometrics
Papilio machaon
Thermo-Mediterranean zone
Pelagian Islands
url https://shilap.org/revista/article/view/139
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AT acatania preliminaryfindingsonthepresenceofataxonwithmorphologicaltraitsofpapiliosaharaeoberthur1879inlampedusaitalylepidopterapapilionidae