Redonda (butterfly)

Redonda is a butterfly genus from the subfamily Satyrinae in the family Nymphalidae. The genus was erected by Michael Jan Adams and George Igor Bernard in 1981. It is endemic to the Cordillera de Merida páramo in Mérida, Venezuela. There are 10 known species, which are separated in distinct mountain ranges.^[1] Most species show some degree of sexual dimorphism in wing size, in the most extreme cases females show some degree of wing deformation which might point to incipient brachyptery.^[2]

Redonda
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Subfamily:	Satyrinae
Tribe:	Satyrini
Subtribe:	Pronophilina
Genus:	Redonda Adams & Bernard, 1981
Species
See text

Taxonomy and nomenclature

The genus was described by Adams and Bernard in 1981 based on wing venation, male genitalia, wing color pattern and ecological characteristics of the type species Pedaliodes empetrus originally described by German entomologist Theodor Otto Thieme in 1905.^[3] These authors considered the genus to be monobasic, but recognized two subspecies, and suggested a close relationship with two other endemic genera in isolated mountain ranges.^[4][5]

Another species was described 20 years later, Redonda bordoni, from the southwest corner of the Cordillera de Mérida in Táchira.^[2] Other taxa were already recognized, but there were evident gaps in distribution and ecological data and no formal description was attempted until 2015.^[1][6][7] There are 10 currently recognized and described species:

• Redonda bolivari Adams & Bernard, 1981
• Redonda bordoni Viloria & Pyrcz, 2003
• Redonda castellana Viloria & Camacho, 2015
• Redonda centenaria Viloria & Camacho, 2015
• Redonda chiquinquirana Ferrer-Paris, 2015
• Redonda empetrus (Thieme, 1905)
• Redonda frailejona Ferrer-Paris & Costa, 2015
• Redonda lathraia Viloria & Camacho, 2015
• Redonda leukasmena Viloria & Camacho, 2015
• Redonda lossadana Ferrer-Paris, 2015

Systematics and biogeography

The high species diversity of the subtribe Pronophilina has inspired multiple theories about speciation and diversification processes. Páramo-dwellers might represent ancient or relictual taxa from open low-land biomes that were isolated by the up-lifting of the Andes, or they might be the result of recent radiation due to specialization and isolation.^[8][9][10]

Preliminary analysis suggest that the genus is monophyletic, and the speciation sequence seems to correspond to the sequence of up-lifting and separation of the páramo biome in recent geological times.^[7][11]

Conservation

R. bordoni is listed as endangered in Venezuela's Red Book of Fauna.

References

• Viloria, A. L. "Mariposa braquíptera de Bordón", in Libro Rojo de la Fauna Venezolana (third edition), Jon Paul Rodríguez y Franklin Rojas-Suarez (editors). Provita y Shell de Venezuela, S.A. Caracas 2008. ISBN 978-980-6774-01-8

1. Viloria, Ángel L.; Ferrer-Paris, José R.; Camacho, Jesús; Costa, Mauro (2013) [2015]. "New satyrine butterflies from the Venezuelan Andes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)". Anartia. 25: 95–160. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18332.
2. Viloria, A. L.; Pyrcz, T. W.; Ferrer-Paris, J. R.; Beccaloni, G.; Sattler, K.; Lees, D. C. (2003). "A brachypterous butterfly?". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 270 (S1): 21–24. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0015. PMC 1698010. PMID 12952626.
3. Adams, M. J.; Bernard, G. I. (1981). "Pronophiline butterflies (Satyridae) of the Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuela". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 71 (4): 343–372. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1981.tb01135.x.
4. Adams, M. J. (1977). "Trapped in a Colombian Sierra". Geographical Magazine. 49: 250–254.
5. Adams, M. J.; Bernard, G. I. (1979). "Pronophiline butterflies (Satyridae) of the Serranía de Valledupar, Colombia-Venezuela border". Systematic Entomology. 4 (2): 95–118. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.1979.tb00627.x.
6. Ferrer-Paris, J. R. (2000). "The genus Redonda (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae): a model to study adaptation and distribution in the páramos of Venezuela". [Der Genus Redonda (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae): Fallstudie über Anpassung und Verbreitung in den Páramos von Venezuela]. Bayreuth: Universität Bayreuth,[ii] + xiii + 111 pp. [Dipl. Biol. thesis].
7. Pyrcz, T. W. (2010). "Evolution of butterflies of the genus Redonda (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), and their adaptation to the high Andean environment". Pp. 265–273. In: Mirek, Z.; Flakus, A.; Krzanowska, A.; Paulo, A. & Wojtusiak, J. (eds.): The Nature and Culture of Latin America. Review of Polish Studies. Kraków: Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences.
8. Adams, Michael J. (1985). "Speciation in the pronophiline butterflies (Satyridae) of the northern Andes". Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Supl. 1: 33–49.
9. Viloria, A. L. (1999). Studies on the Systematics and Biogeography of Some Montane Satyrid Butterflies (Lepidoptera). Imperial College, London. PhD Thesis.
10. Viloria, A. L. (2003). "Historical biogeography and the origins of the satyrine butterflies of the tropical Andes (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera)". In: Llorente J. Morrone, J.J. (Eds.) Una perspectiva latinoamericana de la biogeografía Universidad Autónoma de México, México.
11. Ferrer-Paris, José R.; Vitoria [sic], Ángel L. (2004). "Mariposas Altiandinas (Lepidóptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) y la Conservación de los Páramos en Venezuela". In: C.A. Jaramillo, C. Castaño Uribe, F. Arjona Hincapié, J.V. Rodríguez & C.L. Durán (Eds.) Congreso Mundial de Páramos, Memorias Tomo I. Bogotá: Conservación Internacional Colombia: 626–633.