in spite of its limited geographic distribution (from Panama to Ecuador NW) Ithomia iphianassa has quite a few subspecies.
in Ecuador we have only two :
- ethilla, in the North West, not far from Colombia,
- and occidentissa, recently described, further South.
we found both, but, in the geographic range of ethilla, we did see many Ithomia iphianassa looking like occidentissa, but clearly more orange, when occidentissa is yellow.
near Calderón, we also caught two different looking specimens, two females, close to ssp anaphissa from Colombia
Ithomia iphianassa is a variable species, which means the transition from one ssp to another is very gradual, which raises doubts about the validity of said ssp.
hence four sheets :
- ethilla (1019)
- occidentissa (1311)
- occidentissa resembling (1020)
- f ? (230)
note : this map simply shows where we saw these phenotypes, it has no general relevance.
it may also be worth noting the elevations :
- ethilla - below 200 m
- occidentissa resembling - from 100 to 600 m
- occidentissa - between 700 and 800 m.
