Narrative

Morpho hecuba group (Subgenus Iphimedeia, ten species), species and typical ranges, are listed below:

SPECIES - - - LOCATION
M. hercules - Southeast Brazil
M. amphitrion - Peru
M. richardus - East Brazil
M. hecuba - Venezuela and east Brazil
M. werneri - Ecuador and Colombia
M. cisseis - south-central Brazil
M. phanodemus - Peru and Ecuador
M. theseus - Colombia and Ecuador
M. justitiae - Mexico to Colombia
M. telemachus - Obidos, Brazil to Venezuela & Ecuador

Per the Gerardo Lamas list of 2004, the following changes have been made to the taxonomy of this group of Morphos:

Morpho justitiae has become part of the Morpho theseus complex. Morpho oaxacensis and Morpho schweizeri are now subspecies of Morpho theseus and no longer subspecies of Morpho justitiae.

Morpho niepelti and Morpho staudingeri which were part of LeMoults Morpho staudingeri of Colombia has been made a full species named Morpho niepelti.

Morpho phanodemus has become two different subspecies of Morpho cisseis. (Morpho cisseis gahua of Peru, and Morpho cisseis phanodemus of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.)

Morpho werneri has become the Colombia subspecies of Morpho hecuba.

(Morpho justitiae is found in the tropical lowlands of Central America, and Morpho theseus is found in the higher altitudes of the tropical Andes. With different food plants, different environments, and probably different parasitic wasps and parasitic microbes, these two life forms might be two different species as originally described by LeMoult.)

Taxonomy

References