Perisama dorbignyi subsp. paula Oberthur 1916

Perisama dorbignyi paula Oberthür, 1916 = Perisama dorbignyi mola Dognin, 1899, syn. nov. (= Perisama dorbignyi aristoteles Oberthür, 1916) Attal & Crosson-du-Cormier (1996) considered P. dorbignyi aristoteles (Oberthür, 1916) as a synonym of P. dorbignyi paula (Oberthür, 1916), explaining that diagnostic features pointed out in the original description are merely individual variation. Lamas (2004) regarded P. dorbignyi aristoteles as a valid subspecies. Our comparative analysis did not show any stable morphological differences between the populations from southern Colombia which correspond to P. dorbignyi paula and northern Ecuador representing P. dorbignyi aristoteles. Therefore, we agree with Attal & Crosson-du-Cormier on the synonymy of P. dorbignyi aristoteles and P. dorbignyi paula. On the other hand, both Lamas (2004) and Attal & Crosson-du-Cormier (1996) recognize two subspecies, P. dorbignyi mola (Dognin 1899), from southern Ecuador and P. dorbignyi paula from southern Colombia and northern Ecuador. As pointed out by Attal & Crosson-du-Cormier, Oberthür has failed to mention the description of P. dorbignyi paula when describing P. mola as a new species, that is why the diagnostic characters do not allow to separate the two taxa. Attal & Crosson-du-Cormier (1996) conclude, that the most distinctive character of P. d. mola is a gap in the FWD transverse metallic band. However, the more recent comparative study of a series of specimens from Sangay National Park area, in central Ecuador, as well as from Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe provinces proved that this is not a stable character with some intermediate forms occurring in the same localities (Fig. 10). Therefore, P. dorbignyi paula is considered here as a junior subjective synonym of P. dorbignyi mola.