Diversity and relationships between Andean shrubland puna butterflies in the genus Punargentus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae)

Two new species and two new subspecies of the satyrine butterfl y genus Punargentus Heimlich, P. atusparia sp. n., P. heimlichi sp. n., P. blanchardi libertas ssp. n. and P. atusparia yupania ssp. n., are described from north-central Peru (Ancash, Huanuco and La Libertad). The affi nities of the new taxa are evaluated based on molecular data obtained using target enrichment and COI barcoding. Punargentus is fully supported and consists of two branches, the P. lamna clade with four species and P. blan-chardi clade with three species, two of which are described here. Species in the P. blanchardi clade occur in Andean shrubland, at altitudes between 2800-3600 m, whereas those in the P. lamna clade occur in puna grassland at 3600-4600 m, with occasional overlaps. Based on their habitat preferences, none of the newly described species are in need of immediate conservation meas-ures. The genus Etcheverrius Herrera is reinstated, with E. chiliensis (Guerin-Meneville) and E. tandilensis (Kohler), comb. n.

Automated summary

Two new species and two new subspecies of the satyrine butterfly genus Punargentus are described and their affinities are evaluated using molecular data. The newly discovered species are mainly found in the Andes mountains in north-central Peru. Based on their habitat preferences, immediate conservation measures are not needed for these species.