The genus Nessaea

[daveuk]

A unique genus of five species of South American nymphalidae. This uniqueness is due to the presence of the pigment pterobilin which produces the blue banding to the recto of the wings & the apple green verso(thought to be cryptic). There are forms which lack the pterobilin pigment where the blue & green are replaced by white & ochre.
Many specimens of these forms & other abberations were lost in a catastrophic fire at Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2018
I have three of the five species in my collection.
I do not have N batesii from Brazil or N regina from
Venezuela. Would be interested to see specimens of these from any member of the forum who does.

First picture: Two male N hewitsonii & a pair of N ancaea from Ecuador
Second picture: Two male N ancaea from Bolivia & two pairs of N ancaea from Peru (recto & verso.)
Third picture: Three male(one verso) & a female N aglaura from Mexico.

[wollastoni]

I have caught some Nessaea in French Guiana.
At flight, their blue bands are forming a "blue laser". Wonderful to see.

[daveuk]

I have caught some Nessaea in French Guiana.
At flight, their blue bands are forming a "blue laser". Wonderful to see.

I can imagine. Do you know to which species they belong? Have a feeling N batesii flies in French Guiana.
Would be nice to see them sometime.

[livingplanet3]

The blue colors of the Nessaea butterflies are indeed quite unique looking. Thus far, I've only been able to obtain a couple of male specimens of N. hewitsoni -



Catonephele is another really striking Neotropical nymphalid genus -

[daveuk]

Yes, Catonophele is a lovely genus. The females are very interesting. The males look almost identical to Nessaea minus the blue.

[Trehopr1]

Both of these genera are absolutely stunning.

I've never run across any Nessaea and just a couple of (less than worthy) Cantonophele. However, I will continue to keep a sharp eye out for them !

[hewi]

Nessaea.JPG (677.09 KiB) Viewed 337 times

Nomenclature according to D.W.Jenkins, Revision of Nessaea, Bulletin of Allyn Museum[/size]

[daveuk]

Beautiful drawer. Interesting to see the splits into subspecies & even more interesting to see N batesii. I was using a bulletin of the BMNH by R.I. Vane-Wright from 22/02/79 so am unsurprised to see these changes. I take it these are your specimens? If so congratulations

[hewi]

Hi Dave,

yes, thats my box.
Jenking's revision of Nessaea was published on 5 April 1989.
It is number 125 of the Bulletin of the Allyn museum with the exact title: Neotropical Nymphalidae VII. Revision of Nessaea, 38 pages and 61 illustrations.

[daveuk]

Thanks for the information & update. Intriguing that there seem to be no N regina in private collections anywhere.

[hewi]

according to Jenkins, regina is a subspecies of N. aglaura

[wollastoni]

Nessaea obrinus lesoudieri female from Obidos from my collection.


No idea if rare or not in collection.

[daveuk]

My Peruvian females are from Tingo Maria.
Interesting theory about regina being a subspecies of aglaura. Given its range I suppose it could well be.