wingspan : 40/42 mm
late October we collected two Perisama lebasii at Quebrada Cugusha.
one looks pretty much like P. l. selva which could not be mentioned in Attal & Crosson du Cormier 1996 having been described in 1997, the second one (see pictures on individual variations) is a typical P. l. ambatensis which would be known exclusively from the Baños/Puyo Corridor (Attal & Crosson du Cormier 1996). the two were collected on the same day, exactly on the same spot.
and in 2012, we collected at Guarumales what probably is the first known female of Perisama lebasii ambatensis.
presence in Sangay NP of Perisama ambatensis "subspecies" outside their known geographic distribution - this was written about ten years ago, today (2023) Perisama ambatensis has been downgraded to Perisama lebasii ambatensis, which does not make things easier
in their 1996 book, which is the only recent, serious and well documented book dealing with Genus Perisama, Attal & Crosson du Cormier emphasise the fact that Perisama ambatensis (species or ssp) flies exclusively in the upper Pastaza valley, but we found it 80 km further South, on the Macas-Atillo road and also near Tena in the North.
the reason for this discrepancy is obvious : the authors spent a lot of time in the Loja-Zamora area, they also collected extensively in the Baños-Puyo Corridor, but they made little fieldwork between these two areas, and never visited Sangay NP, probably for its difficult access, and certainly very difficult thirty years ago.
but, on the very same spots we also found specimens matching the description of Perisama lebasii selva, and others halfway between the two ssp, which puts some questions into their validity.
the force of our comments is clearly limited by the fact that we found less than ten specimens, this species being uncommon in Sangay NP.
the bottom pictures are those of two very different Perisama lebasii that were mud puddling side by side at Quebrada Cugusha (left ambatensis, right lebasii).
the first four specimens were collected on the very same spot.
