Optimandes eugenia (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867 ) Willmott & Marín & Nakahara & Pomerantz & Lamas & Huertas & Espeland & Xiao & Hall & Robinson Willmott & Freitas, 2019

Willmott, Keith R., Marín, Mario A., Nakahara, Shinichi, Pomerantz, Tatiana, Lamas, Gerardo, Huertas, Blanca, Espeland, Marianne, Xiao, Lei, Hall, Jason P. W., Robinson Willmott, James I. & Freitas, André V. L., 2019, A revision of the new Andean butterfly genus Optimandes Marín, Nakahara & Willmott, n. gen., with the description of a new species (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Euptychiina), Tropical Lepidoptera Research 29 (1), pp. 29-44 : 33-34

Optimandes eugenia (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867) , n. comb.

Figs. 1-6

Diagnosis and identification: Optimandes eugenia n. comb. is easily distinguished from the only other member of the genus, Optimandes mocha n. sp., as described under that species. It is superficially similar to a number of other euptychiines, but the very pronounced, single-pupilled VHW ocelli in cells Cu 2 -Cu 1 and M 2 -M 1 and highly reduced ocelli between them, coupled with the undulate dark postdiscal line on the VHW, are distinctive.

Taxonomy: Optimandes eugenia contains two subspecies that were formerly placed in different genera until united by Lamas (2004). The two taxa show little divergence in the DNA barcode ( Fig. 1), share a distinctive, sclerotized plate ventral of the ostium bursae ( Fig. 5 B; male genitalia of the nominate subspecies were not examined), occur at similar elevations, and share a number of distinctive wing pattern characters that suggest they are conspecific. These wing pattern characters include the very similar arrangement of submarginal ocelli on the VHW that is unique within the Euptychiina in terms of the relative size and shape of ocelli in different cells, namely very large ocelli in cells Cu 2 -Cu 1 and M 2 -M 1, a small but distinct ocellus in cell Cu 1 -M 3 and a virtually obsolete ocellus in cell M 3 -M 2 (in some otherwise very similar Hermeuptychia , the ocelli in cells Cu 1 - M 3 and M 3 - M 2 may be small but distinct, or virtually obsolete, but are similar in both cells), and a small ocellus in cell 2A-Cu 2 (absent, for example, in E. nossis ); in addition, the ocelli that are each surrounded by a yellow ring that is well-defined and narrow, and have a single central white pupil ( Fig. 2), are further useful distinguishing characters. The undulate dark postdiscal line on the VHW is also distinctive and shared between the taxa, although the nominate subspecies has a straighter dark VHW discal line than O. e. transversa . Mimicry with other cloud forest euptychiines is a possible explanation for the principal difference between the two taxa, namely the large white patch of scaling on the VHW of O. e. transversa , as discussed further below.

Distribution and natural history: This species is known from northern Venezuela, western Ecuador and from the east Andean slopes of Ecuador south to Bolivia, in cloud forest from 1000-2200 m elevation ( Fig. 6). The immature stages of O. e. transversa are described under that taxon.