Milestone: 1000 Observations!
We've reached the milestone of 1000 observations of Butterflies recorded in SA, representing 42 species! More than half have been uploaded in the last 12 months.
With over 75 species present in SA, there are still many more species to be found. Check of the Butterfly Conservation SA Inc. website for all you'll need to know about local species. The Online Identification Tool can be particualrly helpful when trying to ID the less common species.
The top 10 species recorded in SA are shown below.
Comments
It would be great to get some clarification on Common Grass Blue that has i.d of Zizina Otis and Zizina labradus. I feel like all the pictures here belong under only one. Is there someone at the museum that could clarify which Zizina to use?
Cheers
Matt
Hi Matt (@mendacott),
Zizina Otis is cosmopolitan and occurs across the Southern Hemisphere. (https://www.gbif.org/species/7346444). The issue is whether the version in Australia represents a distinct species as Zizina labradus or subspecies Zizina Otis ssp. labradus, both of which are currently listed in iNat.
The issue is flagged in iNat for discussion in under both entries: https://inaturalist.nz/flags/342714. (Accidentally closed and reopened here: https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/368690), and here: https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/467508
(Here is the Yago et al. 2008 paper discussed: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228582344_Molecular_systematics_and_biogeography_of_the_genus_Zizina_Lepidoptera_Lycaenidae)
It seems it remains unresolved. I think regarding iNat entries, identifying as either Zizina labradus or Zizina Otis ssp. labradus is sufficient. Eventually these will likely be merged into one and iNat will automatically update the identifications. I think it is less suitable to ID them as just Zizina Otis. As this species is cosmopolitan it will be more difficult for the platform to determine which of these need to be updated, so I think it would need to be done manually one observation at a time.
As to which is preferable, Zizina labradus or Zizina Otis ssp. labradus:
ALA/AFD uses ssp: https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:9a758235-7318-4dda-bc86-d18489c6a8e2#names
BOLD Systems uses the separate species: http://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=50569
Add a Comment