A new subspecies and validation of the enigmatic species Adelpha herbita Weymer endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic forest (Nymphalidae: Limenitidinae)

Adelpha herbita was described and illustrated by Weymer in 1907 from Santa Catarina in southern Brazil, but no specimens of the species were known in world collections and its taxonomic status has remained uncertain until now. Seven specimens of an apparently undescribed taxon were recently located in three collections, and examination of those specimens suggests that they represent a new subspecies of A. herbita, described here as Adelpha herbita perdita n. ssp. This discovery not only confirms the taxonomic validity of A. herbita, but also extends the range of the species within Brazil to Espírito Santo. A revised cladistic analysis of the A. serpa group was conducted using morphological data, but the relationships of this highly distinctive Atlantic forest endemic species remain obscure.