Except as otherwise noted, all butterfly illustrations are by William H. Howe, who generously allowed them to be reproduced here.

Genera, species and subspecies named by Nabokov

Neonympha dorothea see under Cyllopsis pertepida dorothea

Neonympha avicula see under Cyllopsis pertepida avicula

Neonympha maniola see under Cyllopsis pertepida maniola

Parachiládes NABOKOV 1945 [Lycáenidae]: a new genus of Neotropical polyommatines named by Nabokov (Lep9). The only species known to him was Lycáena titicáca WEYMER, from Bolivia. Parachilades has not gained recognition as a valid genus. For the reasons why, see under Ítylos DRAUDT in Section 3.1 of the Guide.

Paralycáeides NABOKOV 1945 [Lycáenidae]: a new genus of Neotropical polyommatines suggested by Nabokov when he revised the challenging ”jumble” of Itylos DRAUDT. It contained only one species, the very rare one that had formerly been known as Itylos inconspícua DRAUDT 1921, from Peru. On account of its male genitalic structure, Nabokov believed it to be the most ancestral form of the genus Lycáeides to have survived anywhere. According to Kurt Johnson and Zsolt Bálint, Paralycaeides is still a valid genus. They added three further species: vápa STAUDINGER 1894, from Bolivia and Peru, hazeléa BÁLINT & JOHNSON 1995, from Cuzco, Peru, and shade BÁLINT 1993, from a single locality in central Peru.

Plebulina emigdionis GRINNELL 1905
type species of Plebulina NABOKOV 1944
left, male; right, female
wingspan 24 mm.

Plebulína NABOKOV 1944 [Lycáenidae]: a new genus of Neotropical polyommatines Nabokov designated in Lep8, consisting of only one species, Plebulina (formerly Lycáena) emigdiónis GRINNELL 1905, the San Emigdio Blue, from the San Emigdio Canyon in California (Kern County). According to the Catalogue/ Checklist by Miller & Brown (1981), this continued to be a valid genus, consisting of just this one species, with no subspecies. In Zsolt Bálint’s forthcoming revision, Plebulina will disappear into Plebejus KLUK. The holotype of emigdionis is at the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
The name ‘Plebulina,’ Nabokov said, remarkably amalgamates ”the Lycáeides aedeagus [= intromittent organ of the male insect] with the valval processus superior and uncus + falces of Albulina TUTT.”

Pseudochrýsops NABOKOV 1945 [Lycáenidae]: a new genus of Neotropical polyommatines named by Nabokov (Lep9). He thought it monotypic, with just one ”rare and remarkable” species, bornói W. P. COMSTOCK & HUNTINGTON 1943, formerly of the genus Hemiárgus HÜBNER, in Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. To Nabokov, it seemed to belong in pattern to the ”catochrysopoid” group in the Plebejinae (see in Section 3.1 of the Guide) which explains the name, while genitalically it did not. According to Kurt Johnson and Zsolt Bálint, Pseudochrysops is still a valid genus. However, it is not monotypic as Nabokov thought but contains a number of sister-taxa each of which is restricted to a different Caribbean island.

Pseudolucía NABOKOV 1945 [Lycáenidae]: a new genus of Neotropical polyommatines named by Nabokov (Lep9). As its type-species he assigned Pseudolucia chilénsis BLANCHARD 1852, from Chile. There was only one more species, Pseudolucia collína PHILIPPI 1860, also from Chile. Both had been originally described in the genus Lycáena. Pseudolucia is still a valid genus, and a very lively one.
While a few further species of Pseudolucia were added during the following years, the genus received its major boost through the work of Zsolt Bálint, Kurt Johnson and Dubi Benyamini. Between 1993 and 1995, they added more than twenty new species, ten of which bear Nabokovian names. This brought the genus to close to thirty species, divided into five groups: andína BARTLETT-CALVERT, chilensis BLANCHARD, collina PHILIPPI, plumbéa BUTLER and sibýlla KIRBY.

Pseudothécla NABOKOV 1945 [Lycáenidae]: a new genus of Neotropical polyommatines named by Nabokov (Lep9). The type-species is Pseudothecla fága DOGNIN 1895, occurring in Ecuador and Peru. As the name chosen by Nabokov was found to be a junior homonym and for this reason inadmissable, the genus was renamed Nabokóvia (see in Section 2.2 of the Guide, Nabokovia). Pseudothecla means that it resembles a lycaenid of the subfamily Theclínae (Hairstreaks) but is not. The resemblance is in that faga and its allies, as well as Eldoradína BALLETTO and Pseudochrýsops bornói W. P. COMSTOCK & HUNTINGTON are the only South American polyommatines that have short tails on their hindwings. Under its new name Nabokovia, the genus as such is still valid.