Telchin licus laura ( H. Druce, 1896 )

Ríos, Sergio D. & González, Jorge M., 2011, A synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Paraguay, Zootaxa 3055, pp. 43-61 : 51

Telchin licus laura ( H. Druce, 1896)

( Fig. 8 )

Castnia laura H. Druce, 1896

Taxonomic history. The ssp. was originally described (as Castnia laura ) by Herbert Druce (1896). Miller (1995) considered it a synonym of Leucocastnia licu s (Drury) and Lamas (1995) placed it as a ssp. of Telchin licus (Drury) . Benítez (2002) mentions Castnia sora (= Synpalamides phalaris ) and Castnia licus in his list of forest and agricultural pests of Paraguay based on specimens deposited at the FCA/ DE. The first author visited this collection in 2009 and only saw specimens of Synpalamides phalaris (Fabricius) , Castnia invaria penelope Schaufuss and Gazera heliconioides micha (H. Druce) deposited there. These facts allow us to conclude that the “ Castnia licus ” mention in Benitez (2002) is just a misspelling of “ Castnia linus ” (= G. heliconioides ).

Distribution. The type described by Druce is from Chapada dos Guimarães (Mato Grosso, Brazil) ( Druce 1896). In a broader sense, Telchin licus (Drury) is found primarily in the Amazon Basin, with subspecies ranging from Honduras to Bolivia ( Lamas 1995; González 2003).

One specimen collected in 1984, and deposited at the MNHNPY (see below), appears to be the first valid Paraguayan record of the species. It was collected in a region with a mixture of Atlantic Forest and Cerrado vegetation.

Biology and behavior. Benítez (2002) reports that this species is a pest of pineapples [ Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.; Bromeliaceae ] and Bananas ( Musa spp.; Musaceae ), however we could not autenticate these data in Paraguay since it was part of a host plant literature related to Telchin licus (Drury) .

Material examined. CANINDEYÚ: 13, 34 km SE of Catueté. 19.II.1984. Coll. T. Bonace (MNHNPY).

Figures

FIGURES 2 – 9. Adults of Castniidae. 2. Imara satrapes Kollar, 3, Itapúa, Paraguay (MNHNPY); 3. Synpalamides phalaris (Fabricius), 3, Asunción, Paraguay (FCA / DE); 4. Synpalamides rubrophalaris (Houlbert), 3, Alto Paraná, Paraguay (MNHNPY); 5. Castnia invaria penelope Schaufuss (White morph), 3, Sapucay, Paraguay (MGCL); 6. Castnia invaria penelope Schaufuss (red morph), 3, Ypacaraí, Paraguay (FCA / DE); 7. Castnia juturna Hopffer, 3, Argentina (MACN); 8. Telchin licus laura (H. Druce), 3, Canindeyú, Paraguay (MNHNPY); 9. Riechia acraeoides (Guérin-Méneville), 3, Asunción, Paraguay (MNHNPY).