Lyces andosa (Druce) FW, 2009

Miller, James S, 2009, Generic Revision Of The Dioptinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Notodontidae) Part 2: Josiini, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2009 (321), pp. 675-1022 : 771

Lyces andosa (Druce) , new combination Plate 30

Josiomorpha andosa Druce, 1911: 290 .

TYPE LOCALITY: Colombia, Siato , Río Siato, Slopes of Choco, 5200 ft.

TYPE: Syntype ♀, Sep 1909 ( BMNH).

DISCUSSION: This species was intitally described in Josiomorpha , now in the Arctiidae , but was then moved by Prout (1918) to Josia . Here it is newly combined with Lyces . The abdomen of the andosa syntype is missing, but two females (AMNH, USNM) match its wing pattern precisely. These are the only examples of L. andosa known to me. Males have not been found. Examination of female genitalia (JSM-1711) supports the theory that L. andosa should be recognized as a distinct species. It belongs in a tight clade of six Andean Patula Group species exhibiting yellow to yellow-orange longitudinal FW stripes, such as L. gopala (pl. 30). These are also characterized by a completely black head and thorax, without markings. Here, the only pattern on the abdomen is a thin, light gray pleural stripe, as well as a thin, whitish gray stripe along the ventral midline. The FW stripe of L. andosa almost reaches the outer margin, as in L. attenuata and L. striata , but is lighter yellow and much wider. The female genitalia of L. andosa show numerous similarities to females of L. longistria , from eastern Ecuador. These six species are so closely related that resolving their interrelationships will require a detailed analysis, one that integrates characters from adults, larvae, and DNA.

Like L. striata and L. attenuata (pl. 31), L. andosa (pl. 30) is endemic to the western slope of the Andes. Interestingly, the remaining three species of this subclade— gopala, longistria , and patula —those with a short FW stripe (pl. 30) and a prominent process on the male costa, occur on the Amazonian side.

DISTRIBUTION: Colombia (AMNH, BMNH, USNM) .

DISSECTED: ♀, Colombia, Dept. Antioquia, Mesopotamia, 5000 ft, Ac. 3977, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1711).