Allancastria cerisyi (Godart, 1823)
 
Taxonomic context and evidence
The nomenclatural problem involves uncertainties regarding the original species description, the exact date of its publication, and the valid species name.
 
Examples of discordance
Higgins 1970. A field guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe (ed. 1): 39. « Allancastria cerisyi Godart, 1822. ».
De Prins & Iversen 1996. Papilionidae. In: Karsholt & Razowski, The Lepidoptera of Europe, a distributional checklist: 203. « Zerynthia (Allancastria) cerisy (Godart, 1824).
Tolman 1997. Collins field guide – Butterflies of Britain & Europe (ed. 1): 28. « Zerynthia cerisy Godart, 1824. ».
Tshikolovets 2011. Butterflies of Europe & the Mediterranean area: 88. « Zerynthia cerisyi (Godart, [1824]) Thais cerisyi Godart, [1824]. Encycl. Méth. 9(2): 812, pl. 2 ».
Wiemers et al. 2018. An updated checklist of the European Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea). ZooKeys 811: 17. « Zerynthia cerisy (Godart, [1824]) ».
Dapporto et al. 2022. The Atlas of mitochondrial genetic diversity for Western Palearctic butterflies. Global Ecology and Biogeography 31 : vii. « Zerynthia cerisy (Godart, 1824) ».
 
Publication of the original description

Two publications are regularly cited:
Godart, 1822 or 1823 or 1824 or [1824]. Description de quelques espèces nouvelles de lépidoptères diurnes. Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 2: 234-235, pl. 20, fig. 3-4. « THAIS CERISY. [vernacular french name] THAIS cerisyi. (planche XX, fig. 3 et 4.) Th. Alis flavescentibus : anticis utrinquè fasciis septem transversis nigris, posticis sex coccineis … un seul exemplaire … communiqué par M. Lefébure de Cerisy, correspondant de la Société Linnéenne de Toulon. »
and Godart, [1824]. Espèces additionnelles. In: Latreille, Encycl. Méth. Entomol. 9(suppl.): 812-813. « THAIS Cérisy. [vernacular french name] THAIS Cerisy. … Thais Cerisy. Godart, Mém. de la Société Linn. de Paris, tome 2. Pl. 2 des lépid. ».

The first publication is not dated but it is most certainly prior to the second because the latter refers to the first. This publication is available on the internet: - https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t5397242f - https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/159028#page/152/mode/1up

But Cowan (1970. Annotationes rhopalocerologicae: 17) wrote: «… it was been found that volume 2 of Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris was never published. Only a proof copy is known, wich contains no plates… The species concerned were described by Godart in July 1824, Encycl. Méth. (Zool.)9(2), and that is the correct reference ».

Koçak (1981. Critical check-list of European Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera). Priamus 1(2): 49-50) answered: « The first available description of Thais cerisyi was made by Godart in 1822 (Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 2: 234,pl. 20,figs. 3-4). This journal and Godart’s work have been seen by the author and Dr. G. Bernardi together in the Main Library of National Museum, Natural History in Paris. ».

According to Koçak‘s remark (1981) and that a original copy of this publication is also available at the « Bibliothèque Nationale de France », the first publication is valid accordance to the dispositions of the ICZN Code.
 
Date of publication
The first pages of Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 2 relate the « Procès-Verbal de la séance publique du 28 décembre 1822 ». It is therefore likely that the publication date is 1823 but without certainty. (cf. Delmas, 2015. Bibliographie des Lépidoptères de France 1 (index par auteur): 175).
 
Name species
In the two publications which concern us, Godart first takes the vernacular name of the species in French (not valid according to the ICZN Code), then, at the beginning of the description, he takes the name in ist Latinised form. The correct name is therefore: «Thais cerisyi ».
 
Conclusion
The name Allancastria cerisyi (Godart, 1823) is retained for the revised checklist.
 
References

Cowan C. 1970. Annotationes rhopalocerologicae. – Clunbury Press, Berkhamsted, Herts, England, 70 p.

Dapporto L., Menchetti M., Vodă R., Corbella C., Cuvelier S., Djemadi I., Gascoigne-Pees M., Hinojosa J., Lam N., Serracanta M., Talavera G., Dincă V. & Vila. R. 2022. The Atlas of mitochondrial genetic diversity for Western Palearctic butterflies. – Global Ecology and Biogeography. 00, 1–7. doi.org/10.1111/geb.13579

De Prins W. & Iversen F. 1996. Papilionidae. In: Karsholt O. & Razowski J. 1996. The Lepidoptera of Europe, a distributional checklist. – Apollo Books, Stenstrupp, 380 p.

Delmas S. 2015. Bibliographie des Lépidoptères de France (1593-2010). 1. Index par auteur. Alexanor et Oreina édits., Paris et Thoury-Férottes. 384 p.

Godart J. 1823. Description de quelques espèces nouvelles de lépidoptères diurnes. – Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne de Paris 2: 226-243. (url)

Godart J. [1824]. Pap. - Papillon. Espèces additionnelles. – In: Latreille, Encyclopédie méthodique. Histoire naturelle. Entomologie, ou Histoire naturelle des crustacés, des arachnides et des insectes. Tome neuvième, Part 2, Supplément. Paris: Mme veuve Agasse (Ed.). pp. 809-828. (note on publication dates: Heppner, 1982 (url)). (url)

Higgins L. 1970. A field guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe (1st ed.). – Collins, London, 380 p.

Koçak 1981. Critical Check-list of European Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera). – Priamus 1(2): 46-90.

Tolman T. 1997. Collins field guide. Butterflies of Britain & Europe (1st ed.). – HarperCollins Publishers, London, 320 p.

Tshikolovets V. 2011. Butterflies of Europe & the Mediterranean area. – Tshikolovets Publications, Pardubice, Czech Republic, 544 p.

Wiemers M., Balletto E., Dincă V., Fric Z., Lamas G., Lukhtanov V., Munguira M., van Swaay C., Vila R., Vliegenthart A., Wahlberg N. & Verovnik R. 2018. An updated checklist of the European Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea). – ZooKeys 811: 9-45. doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.811.28712
 
Archives of Western Palearctic Lepidoptera
Editors-in-Chief: Michel Taymans & Sylvain Cuvelier