A NEW SPECIES AND NEW RECORDS OF HYPOCHRYSOPS C. & R. FELDER (LEPIDOPTERA: LYCAENIDAE) FROMPAPUA NEW GUINEA

摘要

The previously unknown female of Hypochrysops lucilla D' Abrera, stat rev., is recorded and figured from the Ciater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, central Papua New Guinea. Hypochryfops lustrare sp. n. is described from the same area and comparedwith the closely related H. theon C. & R. Felder. Distributional and biological data are presented for a further six species of Hypochiysops C. & R Felder from the same area, and reference made to the larva and foodplant of an unidentified species of Hypochrysops. The Ciater Mountain Wildlife Management Area (CMWMA) straddles three provinces in central Papua New Guinea - Eastern Highlands, Chimbu and Gulf Provinces. The CMWMA and the scientific research programmes conducted within it are managed by theResearch and Conservation Foundation of Papua New Guinea (RCF), administered from Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Altitudinal range of the CMWMA is from neat sea level (50 m altitude on the Purari River) in the Gulf Province to 3100 m. It contains extensive pristine areas of lowland and upland rainforest, merging to montane forests and subalpine scrub on the summit areas of Crater Mountain. The village of Haia is centrally located within the CMWMA and was the base for field work conducted by one ofus (DL), as reported and discussed here. This followed an invitation from the RCF to document butterfly foodplants in the general area of Haia, as well as to catalogue the Sphingidae and Saturniidae of the area. Some observations on the butterflies of the Haia area were made and the results of observations on the genus Hypochrysops C. & R. Felder are presented here.