Alesa suzana Ahrenholz & Hall, 2010

Santos, Wildio Ikaro Da Graça, Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik & Casagrande, Mirna Martins, 2023, A review of the South American metalmark genus Alesa Doubleday, 1847 (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae: Eurybiini) with the description of two new species, Zootaxa 5284 (1), pp. 77-120 : 97

Alesa suzana Ahrenholz & Hall, 2010

Figs 24–25 , 66 , 94

Alesa suzana Ahrenholz & Hall, 2010 , in Hall & Ahrenholz, 2010. Trop. Lep. Res. 20 (2): 19, 21, 22, fig. 1 (male d, v), 3 (male gen.); ECUADOR: Napo, Finca San Carlo, km. 12 Tena-Puyo rd., 1°05.59’S, 77°46.98’W, 550 m, 19 Feb 2008 (D. H. Ahrenholz) (USNM).— Gallard & Fernandez, 2015. Bull. Soc. ent. France 120 (2): 141.

Diagnosis. Alesa suzana is the only species of the “ telephae group” with males without reddish spots on the wings upper side; it is also the only species in the genus with a large white band on the wings upper side postdiscal area. Female unknown.

Type material. The holotype male of Alesa suzana Ahrenholz & Hall, 2010 is deposited at the USNM and has the following data: Ecuador, Napo, Finca San Carlo, 12 Km of Tena-Puyo , 1° 05.59’S, 77°46.98’W, 550m, 19.II.2008, Ahrenholz leg.

Distribution. Alesa suzana is known from two localities of low elevation in eastern Napo, Ecuador ( Fig. 94 ).

Comments. Alesa suzana is the only species of the genus with an iridescent light blue sheen covering most of the wings upper side, white color in the pattern of the wings upper side, and no reddish spots on the wings upper side. In A. suzana , these reddish spots, present in all other species of the “ telephae group”, are replaced by white spots. The wing patterns of males of A. suzana (and also A. mariae sp. nov. and A. thelydrias ) are somewhat similar to females of species of the “ amesis group”. Females of A. suzana are unknown, but based on the known females of the “ telephae group”, the female of A. suzana probably have pale wing patterns, with the same white elements of the male, however, without the iridescent sheen.

Alesa suzana is a rare species known only from three male specimens collected in two localities in Napo province, Ecuador, although it is probably widespread in western Amazon ( Hall & Ahrenholz 2010). Two of the male specimens examined to describe A. suzana were encountered perching on sunlit leaves in a hilltop between 14:10h. and 14:15h, with wings almost fully open about 12 m above the ground, being the highest perching riodinid species observed in this site ( Hall & Ahrenholz 2010).

Examined material. ECUADOR — Napo: Finca San Carlo (12 Km of Tena-Puyo road), 550m, 19.II.2008, 1 male, D. Ahrenholz leg. ( USNM) (holotype examined from images) . Tena, VII.2011, 1 male, M. Simon leg. ( MGCL) .

Figures

FIGURES 94. Geographic distribution of the species of Alesa belonging to the “telephae group”.

FIGURES 18–25. Males species of of “telephae group”, in dorsal and ventral views (left to right). 18–19, A. telephae Brazil, Acre: Santa Rosa do Purus (DZ 35.134). 20–21, A. humilis French Guyana, Cayenne: Roura (holotype). 22–23, A. negra stat. rev. (paratype of A. amethystina syn. nov. French Guyana, Cayenne, Montsinéry (SF). 24–25, A. suzana Ecuador, Napo: Tena. Scale bar: 1cm.

FIGURES 64–66. Male genitalia of species of “telephae group”. 64, A. telephae Brazil, Acre: Mâncio Lima (DZ 35.114). 65, A. negra stat. rev. Brazil, Amazonas: Eirunepé (DZ 35.104). 66, A. suzana Ecuador, Napo: Tena (MGCL). Left to right: dorsal view of tegumen and uncus, lateral and ventral views of genitalia, and dorsal view of valvae and transtilla. Scale bar: 1mm.