Philiris diana

Philiris diana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Philiris
Species:
P. diana
Binomial name
Philiris diana
Waterhouse et Lyell, 1914

Philiris diana is a species of butterflies of the family Lycaenidae from Wet Tropics of northeastern Queensland of Australia, commonly known as large moonbeam. It consists of two subspecies.[1][2][3]

The species belongs to the diana species-group, which are relatively large butterflies within the genus Philiris. Like in other six members of the group, the hindwing underside of P. diana does not have a black spot on the inner margin, and the male genitalia possess long and asymmetric valvae.[4] It is most similar to Philiris papuanus, found on Cape York Peninsula of Queensland and New Guinea. The two species have similar genitalia; particularly they share the degree of the valvae assymetry. The valvae of P. diana, however, differ by the less arched middle section of the left valva, with shorter apical spine; and right valva having short beak-like process, directed dorsolaterally (the process is longer and thinner, with curved apical spine in P. papuanus).[2]

  1. ^ Waterhouse, G.A.; Lyell, G. (1914). The Butterflies of Australia. A Monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
  2. ^ a b Hacobian, B.S.; Braby, M.F.; Petrie, E.A. (2023). "A New Subspecies of Philiris Diana Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from the Wet Tropics of Northern Australia". Records of the Australian Museum. 75 (2): 65–78. doi:10.3853/j.2201-4349.75.2023.1826.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Petrie2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Parsons, M.J. (1998). The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea. Their Systematics and Biology. London: Academic Press.