Lyces flavissima Walker, 1854

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 : 763-764

Lyces flavissima Walker , revised status Plates 30, 39J [EX]

Lyces flavissima Walker, 1854: 367 .

TYPE LOCALITY: Venezuela.

TYPE: Syntype ♀, ex Dyson Collection ( BMNH).

DISCUSSION: As noted above, L. flavissima is extremely similar to L. eterusialis , with one observable difference—the color of the FW and HW markings (pl. 30). The two taxa exhibit seemingly identical genital morphology. Furthermore, in both species the rami of the male antennae are extremely short. This characteristic can also be found in some members of the Patula Group, such as L. longistria .

My dissections suggest that specimens from eastern Ecuador, which exhibit lemon-yellow markings, are conspecific with material from Venezuela, the provenance of the L. flavissima type. A single known example from Guyana (Mt. Ayanganna; 05 ° 24.1N, 59 ° 57.4W; 4500–5500 ft; USNM), matches these. Assuming the two are even distinct species, the range of L. flavissima thus appears to be more extensive than that of L. eterusialis , so far recorded exclusively from Colombia. Lyces flavissima , discussed in Miller (1996), was reared by L.D. Otero (1992) in Venezuela on Passiflora oerstedi and P. ambigua (table 6).

An undescribed species belonging in the Eterusialis Group, closely related to but markedly distinct from L. flavissima , occurs in Venezuela. I know this taxon from a single specimen: ³, Venezuela, Sucre, Elvecia, near Mt. Turumquire, leg. G. Netting (CMNH). Its wing pattern generally resembles that of L. flavissima , but the lemon-yellow FW band is displaced as it crosses the stem of M 3 +CuA 1, and the yellow central area of the HW is scalloped along its outer margin. The male genitalia of this specimen (JSM-433) show all the characteristics of the Eterusialis Group, but differ markedly from the other two species, especially in the configuration of the vesica.

DISTRIBUTION: Venezuela (AMNH, BMNH, IZA, OUMNH, USNM, ZMH ); Guyana (USNM); Ecuador (AMNH, CMNH, NMW, USNM, ZMH).

DISSECTED: ³, Venezuela, Aragua, Rancho Grande, 1100 m, 27 Jul 1992, leg. L.D. Otero, ex ova on Passiflora oerstedi (genitalia slide no. JSM-652); ³, Venezuela, Cucuta, USNM (genitalia slide no. JSM-624); ³, Venezuela, ZMH (genitalia slide no. JSM-638); ♀, Venezuela, Aragua, Rancho Grande, 1100 m, 27 Jul 1992, leg. L.D. Otero, ex ova on Passiflora oerstedi (genitalia slide no. JSM-653); ♀, Venezuela, Aragua, Rancho Grande nr. Maracay, 30 Apr 1946, Tropical Research Station, N.Y. Zoological Society (genitalia slide no. JSM-623); ♀, Venezuela, Cucuta, USNM (genitalia slide no. JSM-625); ♀, Ecuador, Pastaza, Río Pastaza, ZMH (genitalia slide no. JSM-636); ♀, ‘‘Amaz.’’, ZMH (genitalia slide no. JSM-638).

2. ANGULOSA GROUP

The Angulosa Group (pl. 29) divides into two clades—one containing L. angulosa and L. constricta , and the other comprising L. ariaca , L. banana , L. ena , and L. enoides . Although wing patterns in this second subclade are seemingly divergent, genital morphology is highly derived, and remarkably similar.

Members of the Angulosa Group can be characterized by the traits utilized in the species-group key above. In addition, the following features apply: base of female CB with a large, laterally compressed dorsal appendix; DB relatively long, membranous. The dorsal process on the male uncus (figs. 321A, 322A) and the sclerotized margins of the papillae anales in females (figs. 321C, 322E) are particularly reliable.

Of the eight included species in the Angulosa Group, all are here transferred from Josia , their previous assignment ( Prout, 1918; Hering, 1925; Bryk, 1930). Seven of these are new combinations, the lone exception being L. angulosa Walker , the type species of Lyces .