Urania sloanus (Cramer, 1779) (Lepidoptera: Uraniidae), an Enigmatic Extinct Species in Polish Museum Collections

Abstract

Urania sloanus is an endemic species in Jamaica. The species probably became extinct at the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century. During the work on combining the collections of exotic butterflies in the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, one specimen of this taxon was found. The discovery of this species in the Museum of Upper Silesia in Bytom led us to search for entomological collections in other Polish museums. As a result of our search, we found three additional specimens: two specimens in the collection of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Wrocław and one at the Zoological Museum of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. In total, in the Polish museum collections, the species was represented by four specimens. In our publication, we also paid attention to the role of museum collections as important repositories of biodiversity in the context of the development of modern methods in the field of molecular genetics, as an important source of genetic information.

Full text

INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, over 26,000 species are estimated to be
endangered and over 800 species are considered to be
extinct (ICUN 2019). A species that probably became
extinct at the end of the 19th century or the beginning
of the 20th century species is Urania sloanus, an
endemic species to Jamaica and member of the Urani-
idae family. The exact cause of the extinction of this
species is unknown. It is believed that environmental
destruction, the loss of food plants or other environ-
mental factors, such as hurricanes, caused the extinc-
tion (Lees and Smith 1991). Although the species has
been considered extinct for over 100 years, its biology
has been well known and described (Gosse 1851, 1880,
1881, Domagała et al. 2015). During the work on the
exotic butterfly collection in the Upper Silesian Muse-
um, one specimen of this species was discovered. The
discovery of this species in the Upper Silesian Museum
in Bytom led us to search for entomological collections
in other Polish museums. This paper presents the re -
sults of our search.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A search for U. sloanus specimens, along with the
collection of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom,
was carried out in the collections of the Zoological
Museum of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw,
URANIA SLOANUS
(CRAMER, 1779) (LEPIDOPTERA:
URANIIDAE), AN ENIGMATIC EXTINCT SPECIES IN
POLISH MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
PAWEŁ J. DOMAGAŁA1,* and ROLAND DOBOSZ2
1University of Opole, Institute of Biology, ul. Oleska 22, 45-052 Opole, Poland;
e-mail: pdomagala@uni.opole.pl
2Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, Natural History Department, pl. Jana III
Sobieskiego 2, 41-902 Bytom, Poland; e-mail: dobosz@muzeum.bytom.pl
*Corresponding author
Abstract.— Urania sloanus is an endemic species in Jamaica. The species probably
became extinct at the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century. During
the work on combining the collections of exotic butterflies in the Upper Silesian Museum in
Bytom, one specimen of this taxon was found. The discovery of this species in the Museum
of Upper Silesia in Bytom led us to search for entomological collections in other Polish
museums. As a result of our search, we found three additional specimens: two specimens
in the collection of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Wrocław and one at
the Zoological Museum of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. In total, in the Polish
museum collections, the species was represented by four specimens. In our publication, we
also paid attention to the role of museum collections as important repositories of
biodiversity in the context of the development of modern methods in the field of molecular
genetics, as an important source of genetic information.
Ë
Key words.— Lepidoptera, Uraniidae, Biodiversity, extinct species, museum collections,
Poland
ANNALES ZOOLOGICI (Warszawa), 2019, 69(4): 697-702
PL ISSN 0003-4541 © Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS
doi: 10.3161/00034541ANZ2019.69.4.005

the Natural Sciences Institute of Systematics and Ani-
mal Evolution PAS in Krakow, the Natural History Mu -
seum of Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the Muse-
um of Natural History of the University of Wroclaw and
the Natural History Museum in Jelenia Góra.
The list of discovered specimens is presented
below, in the Results section. We decided to include
a general comment for each U. sloanus specimen,
divided into three parts. The ‘Examined material’ sec-
tion contains the sex of every studied specimen, as well
as the collection where specimen is held. The ‘Com-
ments’ section contains a general description of each
specimen, and the ‘Labels’ section presents data con-
tained in each of its labels.
RESULTS
Museum and Institute of Zoology Polish
Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (MIZ PAS)
Examined material.1♂, Brasilien, coll. Museum
and Institute of Zoology Polish Academy of Sciences in
Warsaw (Figs 1a, 1b).
Comments.The specimen is well preserved, with
full bright colours on the wings. The forewings have pin
holes between the costal (C) and subcostal (Sc) veins.
The right forewing has a chip on the outer margin,
which, on the ventral side, has been repaired with the
piece of a wing from another lepidopteran. The left
forewing has a tear that extends from the median cell
to the outer margin. On the ventral side, the tear was
repaired with a piece of wing from another species, cer-
tainly not belonging to the genus Urania. The left hind-
wing had two pin holes; one of them was directly on the
base of the wing, whereas the second one was on the
central part of wing, just below the Rs vein. The left
hindwing tail was without a final fragment. The right
hindwing had three pin holes, in the central and upper
parts of the wing: one hole is just above the Rs vein, the
second one is in the cell just below the M1 vein, and the
third hole is above the M1 vein, but from this point,
a large tear begins. The tear runs from the pin hole
towards the inner margin, next along the inner margin,
between the anal veins to the tail area.
Labels.Three labels were attached to the specimen
(Figs 6a, 6b, 6c). Two labels had the same hand-written
information “Urania sloanus Brasilien“. The labels had
different dimensions and shapes, and contained hand
written information, but written in different charac-
ters. The rectanglar-shaped label was 23 × 13 mm and
had a printed border, which was cut on both sides (Fig.
6a). The label had two pin holes with the same diame-
ter. The second label is rhombus shaped, with a dimen-
sion of 28 × 15 mm and one pin hole (Fig. 6c). Overleaf,
the red pen hand-written 1917/19 description appeared
(Fig. 6d). The third label had a dimension of 17 × 8 mm
and contained the information from Mus. Zool. Polo -
nicum Warszawa 58/52, which is the inventory number
in this collection (Fig. 6b).
Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom (USMB)
Examined material. 1♂, Venezuela, coll. Muzeum
Górnośląskie w Bytomiu (USMB 5959/32300) (Figs 2a,
2b).
Comments.The detailed specimen was charac-
terised by Domagała et al. (2015). It is well preserved,
with bright, not faded, colours on the wing. The right
forewing has a hole in the median cell, which was
repaired by a piece of wing from another species. The
outer margin has a few tiny tears and has been
repaired on the ventral side by attaching a triangular-
shaped piece of wing from another species. Additional-
ly, a small, 2 mm deep tear is present on the inner mar-
gin, which was not repaired. The right antennae from
another lepidopteran specimen was glued onto this
specimen (Domagała et al. 2015).
Labels. The specimen had one original label, with
18 × 11 mm dimensions (Fig. 5a). The label had a print-
ed double octagon shape. The only information on the
label was the hand-written locality “Venezuela”. The
label had three pin holes, two of which had the same
diameter and the other was smaller (Domagała et al.
2015). Second label is the inventory number of USMB
collection (Fig. 5b).
Museum of Natural History, University of
Wrocław (MNHW)
Examined material.1♂, coll. Museum of Natural
History, University of Wrocław (Figs 3a, 3b).
Comments.This was the best preserved specimen
of U. sloanus present in the Polish entomological col-
lections. The specimen was in nearly perfect condition
without wing repairs, with full bright colouration. The
only visible damages were on the hindwing tails; the tip
of the right tail was missing and the left hind wing tip
had faded scales.
Labels.Missing.
Examined material.1♀, coll. Museum of Natural
History, University of Wrocław.
Comments.This specimen was well preserved with
specific wing preparations that are lowered. The left
forewing had several holes and tears repaired on the
ventral side. The largest damage is between the Rs2
and Rs3 veins and it was repaired by a 15 × 5 mm
piece of wing from another Urania member. Additional-
ly, on the left forewing, there were three wing repairs
on the ventral side. Two of these repairs were on the
698 P. J. DOMAGAŁA and R. DOBOSZ

URANIA SLOANUS (CRAMER, 1779) (LEPIDOPTERA: URANIIDAE) 699
Figures 1–4. Specimens of Urania sloanus (Cramer, 1779) present in Polish museum collections: male: (1a) dorsal view; (1b) ventral view, coll.
Museum and Institute of Zoology Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (MIZ PAS); male: (2a) dorsal view; (2b) ventral view, coll. Upper Silesian
Museum in Bytom (USMB); male (3a) dorsal view; (3b) ventral view, coll. Museum of Natural History, University of Wrocław (MNHW); female (4a)
dorsal view; ventral view, coll. Museum of Natural History, University of Wrocław (MNHW). Scale bar 1 cm.

outer margin; a 4 × 3 mm triangular-shaped piece of
wing was attached at the Rs4 vein and a 4 × 5 mm piece
of wing was attached between the M2 and M3 veins.
The third one was on the apex of the left forewing and
was also repaired with the piece of wing from another
species. The right forewing had a 3 × 2 mm triangular-
shaped patch made of another species’ wing, which
was glued on the outer margin at the Rs3 vein. Addi-
tionally, close to the right forewing apex, there was
a tear from the costal margin to the Rs2 vein, which
was directly glued without a patch. The left hindwing
had an approximately 15 mm tear spreading from the
central part of the wing to the inner margin; the tear is
glued without a patch. The right hindwing has small
tears on the outer margin only. There were no visible
larger damages or repairs. The specimen was without
a left antenna.
Labels.Missing.
DISCUSSION
The evaluation of U. sloanus specimens in all
museum collections has only been conducted in Poland,
so far. The rapidly progressing loss and degradation of
the environment caused the rate of species extinction
to increase significantly in recent years; it is some-
times considered the beginning of the next era of mass
extinction in the history of the Earth (Ceballos et al.
2017). The increasing number of extinct species makes
museum collections very important repositories of bio-
diversity (Burrell et al. 2015). Specimens deposited
into museum collections become a very important
source of information about the ongoing genetic
changes in a population, as well as their adaptation to
environmental changes (Hartley et al. 2006), including
adaptations related to climate change (Bi et al. 2013).
Genetic research of museum specimens was started by
Higuchi et al. (1984), who sequenced a 229 nucleotide
fragment of the mitochondrial DNA of the quagga
(Equus quagga quagga), which was probably extinct
in 1883. The development of new molecular biology
technologies has made genetic studies of museum
specimens more popular (Thomas 1994) and more
effective, which allowed for the sequencing of the full
mitochondrial genome of the thylacine (Thylacinus
cynocephalus), a species that was extinct in 1936
(Miller et al. 2009).
Museum specimens of both large vertebrates
(Węcek et al. 2016) as well as invertebrates (Lis et al.
2011, Nazari et al. 2016) are used for genetic studies.
Proper protection and good storage conditions of
museum specimens are very important for obtaining
positive results from genetic studies (Miller et al.
2009). In the case of the analysed U. sloanus speci-
mens, all examined specimens of this species were
preserved in good condition, which suggests that the
moths were stored in appropriate conditions and not
exposed to sunlight. It should be noted that all exam-
ined specimens (expect ♂from MNHW) had wing
repairs, which suggests that their previous owners
wanted to keep the aesthetic value of the specimens.
One of the MNHW specimens had a specific method of
preparation. The forewings of the moth were not pre-
pared at the traditional 90-degree wing angle to the
abdomen, but the wings were heavily lowered. This
method of lepidopteran preparation was characteristic
of the first known entomological collections from the
late 18th and early 19th centuries, but we cannot rule
out that such a wing position is a result of incorrect
storage in humid conditions. In the case of a specimen
deposited at the Zoological Museum of the Polish Acad-
emy of Sciences in Warsaw, on the basis of the number
attached to the specimen (58/52), we know that the
specimen came from the Schaffgotsch collection in
Cieplice (Silesia) and was brought to Warsaw in 1952
(according to the information obtained from the inven-
tory book).
The origin of the specimen in the Schaffgotsch col-
lection is unknown, but it is known that the 1945 collec-
tion had previously about 13,000 specimens of butter-
flies. The mentioned butterfly collection was part of the
cabinet of curiosities of the noble and prominent Sile-
sian Schaffgotsch (Kośny, personal communication).
The examined specimen certainly changed the collec-
tions, which can be suggested by two different labels
that contain the same data. The information on the
back of one of the labels “1917/119” is probably the
inventory number, in which 1917 is the year and 119 is
the inventory number. The given year is very intriguing
because it is 9 years later than the likely youngest
known specimens given by Vinciguerra (2009). Of
course, we are not sure that this date determines the
acquisition of a specimen in nature. Perhaps, this is the
only inventory information given by the custodian or
collector after purchasing the specimen from another
collection. Unfortunately, all the specimens in the Pol-
ish collections have incorrect or missing data. Accord-
ing to Domagała et al. (2015), there is no possibility of
this species occurring outside of Jamaica. The most
probable reason for the incorrect labeling is the fact
that most exotic butterfly specimens in collections
from the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries were
not directly obtained by collectors in nature, but pur-
chased from commonly operating entomological
traders, who did not pay attention to correctly deter-
mining the origin of the sold specimens. In the case of
the specimen from the USMB, the label was probably
misplaced and may have originally belonged to another
specimen (Domagała et al. 2015); the original collec-
tion of this specimen is unknown. The specimen was
probably part of a larger insect collection that was
700 P. J. DOMAGAŁA and R. DOBOSZ

included in a museum collection (Domagała et al.
2015).
All the specimens in the Polish museum collections
originated from Silesia. It should be noted that the area
of the Silesia was a resilient and important entomolog-
ical centre, where the first entomological collections
were created worldwide, such as the unknown Caspar
Schwenckfeld (1563–1609) collection (Mencfel 2010).
Also, the first studies of the local fauna were created in
Silesia, such as Schwenckfelds “Theriotropheum Sile-
siae”, published in 1609 (Smart 1975, Mencfel 2010).
Later, many entomologists operated in Silesia, includ-
ing lepidopterologists dealing mainly with exotic fauna,
such as Paul Hahnel, Wilhelm Niepelt, Otto Michael and
Eugen Kruger, many others. It cannot be ruled out that
the specimens that were part of the collection of Ger-
man entomologists after World World II had gone to
private entomological collections, and we could expect
to find additional specimens of this taxa and other
interesting species. Many interesting, valuable insects
collections with a long interesting history are probably
still hidden in Silesia since World War II, which is con-
firmed by the recent discovery of a large entomological
collection in the Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących nr 1
(Secondary School No. 1) in Je lenia Góra (Kośny, per-
sonal communication).
SUMMARY
Until now, exotic butterflies and moths in Polish
museum collections were not a subject of particular
interest among researchers. Often, the museal collec-
tions of exotic butterflies and moths have been margin-
alised, and the specimens contained in them were most
often used as visual cues to fill permanent exhibitions.
The research conducted on the exotic butterflies in Pol-
ish collections for several years shows that the deposit-
ed collections in this area are very rich and valuable
(Pyrcz 1999a, 1999b, Gonzáles et al. 2013a, 2013b,
Jałoszyński et al. 2014, Domagała el al. 2017a, 2017b).
It also confirms the presence of U. sloanus in these
collections. We hope that, thanks to ongoing research,
the inventories in museums will be able to secure these
precious specimens for future generations, and that
future genetic studies, with the development of science,
can help to understand and stop the extinction of other
species.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are deeply grateful to Tomasz Huflejt (MIZ
PAS), Dariusz Iwan (MIZ PAS), Marek Wanat
(MNHW) and Paweł Jałoszyński (MNHW) for al -
lowing access to these collections. We also thank
Leszek Kośny (Natural History Museum in Jele-
nia Góra) for information and comments about
the history of the museum and collection.
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Figures 5–6. Labels attached to the specimens of Urania sloanus (Cramer,
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702 P. J. DOMAGAŁA and R. DOBOSZ
Received: October 1, 2019
Accepted: October 31, 2019
Printed: December 30, 2019