Megalographa bonaerensis (Berg)

Lafontaine, J. Donald & Sullivan, J. Bolling, 2009, A review of the genus Megalographa Lafontaine and Poole (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Plusiinae) with the description of a new species from Costa Rica, Insecta Mundi 2009 (77), pp. 1-10 : 6

Megalographa bonaerensis (Berg)

( Figure 5 , 11 , 16 )

Plusia bonaerensis Berg 1882: 287 . Types: Probably Paris [not examined]; Type locality: Province Bonaerensis , [ Argentina] .

Autograha solida Ottolengui 1902: 64. Holotype: male, AMNH, New York [examined]; Type locality: Texas, USA. Note : A statement by Ottolengui that the type from Texas is in the collection of the author, together with a statement that another specimen from Mexico is “darker than the type,” are taken to indicate that the specimen from “Texas” should be treated as a holotype. Both the Texan and Mexican records are believed to be mislabeled as to locality.

Diagnosis. This species is immediately recognizable from the adult wing pattern and bright coloration. The wing apex is darkened, the silver spot in the lower part of the reniform spot is prominent and oval with a dark spot in the basal third. The wing margin is evenly colored and the hindwing is yellowish buff. The sexes are similar.

In the male genitalia the clasper is upcurved, extending slightly beyond the costa of the valve; the clavus is short; the vesica is straight with a slight median swelling and a long, stout apical cornutus. In the female genitalia, the ductus bursae and appendix bursae are both about 0.3X as long as the corpus bursae; there is a short zone of sclerotized, spiculate ridges subbasally in the corpus bursae near its junction with the ductus bursae.

Distribution and Habitat. Megalographa bonaerensis occurs from southern Brazil and Paraguay southward to northern Argentina and Chile and does not follow the mountains.

Figures

Figure 1–8. Megalographa spp. 1) M. monoxyla, m, Cochabamba, Incachaca, Bolivia. 2) M. agualaniata, m, Cochabamba, Incachaca, Bolivia. 3) M. culminicola, m, Ecuador. 4) M. culminicola, f, Junin to Huanuco Hwy., Pasco, Peru, 3600 m. 5) M. bonaerensis, m, Curitiba, 920 m, Paraná, Brazil. 6) M. biloba, m, San Gerardo de Dota, Cartago, Costa Rica. 7-8) M. talamanca, m, Reserva los Nimbulos, 3150 m, Cerro de la Muerte, San José, Costa Rica.

Figure 9–14. Male genitalia of Megalographa spp. and Lophoplusia sp. 9) M. monoxyla, Cochabamba, Incachaca, Bolivia. 10) M. agualaniata, Venezuela. 11) M. bonaerensis, Curitiba, 920 m, Paraná, Brazil. 12) M. biloba, Verdugo, California. 13) M. talamanca, Reserva los Nimbulos, 3150 m, Cerro de la Muerte, San José, Costa Rica. 14) Lophoplusia sp., Kauai, Hawaii.

Figure 15–18. Female genitalia of Megalographa spp. 15) M. agualaniata, Bolivia. 16) M. bonaerensis, Curitiba, 920 m, Paraná, Brazil. 17) M. biloba, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. 18) M. talamanca, Reserva los Nimbulos, 3150 m, Cerro de la Muerte, San José, Costa Rica.