Festive Coquette (Lophornis chalybeus) [XC187479]
by id from APA Capivari Monos, S\u00e3o Paulo, SP, Brazil (call)
Festive Coquette (Lophornis chalybeus) [XC34807]
by Marcos Melo from Fazenda Castanheiras (APA -Boror\u00e9 - Colonia) S\u00e3o Paulo, SP, Brazil (call)
Subspecies
Together with its sister species, Peacock Coquette (Lophornis pavoninus), formerly placed in a separate genus, Polemistria. Disjunct distribution and morphological differences between southern nominate and northern subspecies suggest they might be approaching species threshold. "Lophornis insignibarbis", known from a single Bogota trade skin and sometimes awarded monospecific genus Lithiophanes, may be a hybrid of subspecies verreauxii and Spangled Coquette (Lophornis stictolophus), although apparently characters do not fit precisely with either.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
klagesi von Berlepsch & Hartert, 1902 - South-eastern Venezuela.
verreauxii Bourcier, 1853 - Eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru to north-western Brazil and central Bolivia. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Butterfly Coquette (Lophornis verreauxii).
chalybeus (Vieillot, 1823) - South-eastern Brazil (Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina).