Plebejus melissa annetta (W. H. Edwards, 1882)
(Melissa Blue)

Pinned Specimens photo collection Page 1:

Pinned Specimens photo collection Page 2:

Distribution and Larval Foodplants:
 

Synonymy

(From: A Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada, Jonathan P. Pelham)

Genus Plebejus Kluk, 1780

Zwierz. Hist. Nat. Pocz. Gospod. 4: 89-92, no. 148. Type-species: Papilio argus Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat. (ed. 10) 1: 483, no. 152, by designation of Hemming (1933), Entomol. 66(845): 224. I.C.Z.N. Opinion 278 placed Plebejus on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology as name no. 705. This name has been spelled various ways; the spelling given in the Official List is the proper spelling by rule (Code Article 79.4.1). Bálint et al. (2001), Folia Entomol. Hung. 62: 177-184, discussed this issue.

Plebejus melissa (W. H. Edwards, 1873)

Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 4(4): 346-348; figured by Mead (1875), Rep. Coll. diurn. Lepid. 5(Zool.): pl. 36, figs. 5 ♂ D, 6 ♂ V, 7♀ D, 8 ♀ V.

Original Combination: Lycaena Melissa

Type Locality: “Colorado...Nevada...Arizona”; suggested to be “Fairplay” [Park County, Colorado] by F. Brown (1934), J. N. Y. Entomol. Soc. 42(2): 162; defined as “vicinity of Twin Lakes, Lake Co., Colorado...probably...on La Plata Peak” by F. Brown (1970), Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 96(3): 372. Redefined, probably in error, to “Tinytown” [Turkey Creek Junction, Jefferson County, Colorado] by Scott (2006), Papilio (n.s.) 12: 60. F. Brown’s (1934) definition of “Fairplay” is most likely correct (A. Warren pers. comm. 2006).

Types: Lectotype in CMNH, designated by F. M. Brown, 1970, Trans. amer. ent. Soc. 96(3): 374-375, fig. 9 ♂ D&V.

Plebejus melissa annetta (W. H. Edwards, 1882)

Papilio 2(3): 45, 48-49, no. 5.

Original Combination: Lycaena Annetta

Type Locality: “near Salt Lake, Utah”; Mead’s specimens were suggested to have come from the “Wasatch Mts.” by Nabokov (1949), Bull. Harvard Mus. Comp. Zool. 101(4): 532-533.

Types: Lectotype in CMNH, designated by F. Brown (1970), Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 96(3): 376-377, fig. 10 ♂ D&V; paralectotype figured by W. Holland (1898), Butt. Book: pl. 332, fig. 14 ♀ D.

                         =    ‡”caeca” (Courvoisier, 1912)

Dtsche. Entomol. Z. “Iris” 26(1): 63.

Original Combination: [Lycaena annetta] F[orma]. caeca

Type Locality: “Nd. Amer” [North America]

Types: “Type(s),” if extant or recognizable, probably in NHMB.

Bibliography

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