The Nicaraguan Hairstreak Butterfly Fauna (Theclinae: Eumaeini), Its Biogeography, and the History of Nicaraguan Collectors

Abstract

The hairstreak butterfly fauna of Nicaragua has not been comprehensively updated since Godman and Salvin listed 71 species in the Biologia Centrali-Americana over a century ago. Based primarily on Eumaeini in the Anderson and Sullivan Collections (Smithsonian Institution), we treat 149 thecline species recorded from Nicaragua with their localities and months of capture. None are endemic to Nicaragua, but 15 species have the northern or southern limit of their known distribution in Nicaragua. We relate the distributions of these 15 species, many of which are figured, to the life zones and physical features of Nicaragua and adjoining countries. Those eumaeine names for which Nicaragua is a type locality are noted, and a few unresolved taxonomic problems among the Nicaraguan fauna are pointed out. We list another 73 hairstreak species that are recorded both to the northwest and southeast of Nicaragua, but not in Nicaragua. Finally, we present brief historical comments on the collectors of Nicaraguan hairstreaks.