Vanima labe ( Butler, 1870 ) Zacca & Casagrande & Mielke & Huertas & Espeland & Freitas & Willmott & Nakahara & Lamas, 2020

Zacca, Thamara, Casagrande, Mirna M., Mielke, Olaf H. H., Huertas, Blanca, Espeland, Marianne, Freitas, André V. L., Willmott, Keith R., Nakahara, Shinichi & Lamas, Gerardo, 2020, Revalidation of Vareuptychia Forster, 1964, description of Vanima gen. nov., and notes on Euptychia cleophes Godman & Salvin, 1889 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae Satyrinae), Zootaxa 4858 (1), pp. 1-34 : 16-17

Vanima labe ( Butler, 1870) comb. nov.

( Figs. 30–33 , 42 , 47–51 , 62–63 , 68 , 71–72 )

Euptychia labe Butler, 1870: 250 , pl. 1, fig. 2; syntypes: [ Panama], Calobre and Santa Fe, [ Guatemala], Polochic Valley.— Kirby, 1871: 642.— Distant, 1876: 12.— Butler, 1877: 117.— Godman & Salvin, 1880a: 79, pl. 8, fig. 3.— Godman & Salvin, 1880b: 121.—Godman, 1901652.—Weymer, 1911: 200.— Riley & Gabriel, 1924: 30.— Gaede, 1931: 452.— D’Abrera 1988: 761 (male).

Argyreuptychia labe ; Forster, 1964: 123, fig. 142 (male genitalia).

Euptychia drymo Schaus, 1913 ; Wesley & Emmel, 1975: fig. 126 [misidentification].

Cissia labe ; Singer et al., 1983: 106; lectotype male [sic] designated: [ Panama], Santa Fe; NHMUK (examined).—Llorente-Bousquets, 1986: 24.— DeVries, 1987: 273, pl. 48, fig. 27 (female).— Ackery, 1988: 114.— Raguso & Llorente-Bousquets, 1990: 132.— Ehrlich et al., 1994: 23.— Luis-Martínez et al., 1996: 119.—Racheli, T & L. Racheli, 1998: 111.— Pozo et al., 2003: 516.— Lamas, 2004: 218.— Luis-Martínez et al., 2004: 349.— Shuey et al., 2005: 88.— Beccaloni et al., 2008: 328.— Luis-Martínez et al., 2011: 23.— Miller et al., 2012: 58.— Garwood & Jaramillo, 2016: 102, figs. 1150–1154 (male, female).—Garwood et al., 2016: 193, figs. 2251–2255 (male, female).— Luis-Martínez et al., 2016: 216.—Henao-Bañol & Gantiva, 2020: 187.

Diagnosis. Vanima labe comb. nov. resembles V. palladia comb. nov. but can be easily distinguished by its larger size, VFW and VHW with doubled submarginal lines ( Fig. 31 ) (simple line in V. palladia comb. nov.), VHW with tiny ocellus in M 2 -CuA 1 ( Fig. 35 ) (larger ocellus in V. palladia comb. nov.) and tornus with the rufous quadrate spot well developed ( Fig. 31 ).

Male genitalia ( Figs. 47–51 ). In addition to the characters mentioned in the generic description, the apex of the valva is serrated.

Female genitalia ( Figs. 62–63 ). In addition to the characters mentioned in the generic description, the lateral plate does not reach the 8 th tergite and the signa are located dorsally ( Fig. 62 ).

Variation. Two specimens from Guatemala, one from Zapote (voucher number BMNH(E) 1420892) and another from Sinanja (BMNH(E) 1420768), stand out by having a notably faded ocellus on the DHW and sinuous median line between M 1 -CuA 1 on the VHW. Considering that there are no differences in major wing pattern elements and genitalia, they are here treated as intraspecific variation of Vanima labe comb. nov. rather than as a distinct species. Females of V. labe comb. nov. are easily distinguished from males by the rounded FW apex and well-developed subapical ocellus in M 1 -M 2 on the DFW.

Ecology and distribution. This species is distributed widely from Mexico to Colombia and western Ecuador ( Singer et al. 1983; DeVries 1987; plus examined material) at altitudes up to 1800 m ( Fig. 68 ). Vanima labe comb. nov. is multivoltine, flying all year. In Costa Rica, this species has been reported as being most abundant during the dry season ( DeVries 1987). It is found in primary and secondary forest, usually along riparian edges or in large light gaps in rainforest ( Singer et al. 1983; DeVries 1987; Ehrlich et al. 1994; Garwood & Jaramillo 2016; Garwood et al. 2016), but also in association with disturbed areas ( Singer et al. 1983). Adults ( Fig. 71 ) feed on rotting fruits and decomposing fungi ( DeVries 1987). In western Ecuador ( Fig. 72 ), males were observed perching in small groups in small light gaps and sunflecks in the forest understory on ridge tops, from 1–4 m above the ground, from 09:30– 10:30 hr (Willmott & Hall, unpubl. data). Recorded larval host plants include undetermined species of Paspalum L. and Ichananthus Beauv. ( Poaceae ) ( DeVries 1987; Ackery 1988; Beccaloni et al. 2008). Descriptions of the egg, first instar and pupa are available in Singer et al. (1983).

Type material and taxonomic history. The description of Euptychia labe Butler, 1870 was based on three specimens from the Godman & Salvin collection, two collected by Arcé in Calobre and Santa Fe (Veraguas, Panama) and the other by Hague in the Polochic Valley ( Guatemala). Singer et al. (1983) designated the syntype from Santa Fe as lectotype of E. labe . Although lacking its abdomen ( Fig. 42 ), there is no doubt that it is a female based on the well-developed subapical ocellus on the DFW, and not a male as stated by Singer et al. (1983).

Forster (1964) transferred E. labe to Argyreuptychia (currently a synonym of Cissia , see Zacca et al. 2018b). Subsequently, this species was transferred to Cissia by Singer et al. (1983), mainly based on the immature stages (coloration and number of instars). In that study, Singer et al. (1983) treated Cissia labe together with C. palladia and C. penelope (Fabricius, 1775) in the ‘ labe subgroup’ defined by some features of the larval head capsule and absence of projections or knobs in the pupa. This classification was followed by Lamas (2004), but recently Zacca et al. (2018b) noted that the species should be removed from Cissia based on morphological (wing pattern, venation, male and female genitalia) and molecular data (nuclear and mitochondrial markers).

Examined material. 81 males and 142 females (14 specimens dissected)—see Supporting Information (S2).

Figures

FIGURE 68. Map showing the distribution of Vanima labe comb. nov.

FIGURES 30–41. Species of Vanima gen. nov., dorsal and ventral: 30–33. Vanima labe comb. nov.: 30–31. male (Chiriquí, Panama), 32–33. female (Verapaz, Mexico); 34–37. Vanima lesbia comb. nov.: 34–35. male (Amazonas, Brazil), 36–37. female (Amazonas, Brazil); 38–41. Vanima palladia comb. nov.: 38–39. Male (Acre, Brazil), 40–41. female (Acre, Brazil). Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURES 42–44. Lectotypes of species of Vanima gen. nov.: 42. Lectotype of Euptychia labe Butler, 1870 and labels, 43. Lectotype of Euptychia lesbia Staudinger, [1886] and labels, 44. Lectotype of Euptychia palladia Butler, 1867 and labels.

FIGURES 47–61. Male genitalia of species of Vanima gen. nov.: 47–51. Vanima labe comb. nov. (BMNH#1420794): 47. lateral, 48. dorsal, 49. ventral, 50. aedeagus, dorsal, 51. aedeagus, lateral; 52–56. Vanima palladia comb. nov. (BMNH#1420948): 52. lateral, 60. dorsal, 61. ventral, 62. aedeagus, dorsal, 63. aedeagus, lateral; 57–61. Vanima lesbia comb. nov. (BMNH#1420885): 57. lateral, 58. dorsal, 59. ventral, 60. aedeagus, dorsal, 61. aedeagus, lateral. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURES 62–67. Female genitalia of species of Vanima gen. nov.: 62–63. Vanima labe comb. nov. (BMNH#1420985): 62. lateral, 63. ventral; 64–67. Vanima lesbia comb. nov. (DZUP 28.091): 64. lateral; 65. ventral; 66–67. Vanima palladia comb. nov. (DZUP 28.098): 66. lateral, 67. Ventral. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURES 71–73. Vanima labe comb. nov.: 71. Live adult in Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá, Colombia (Photo: M. T. Tapasco); 72. Overview of habitat in El Durango, Esmeraldas, Ecuador (Photo: K. R. Willmott); Vanima lesbia comb. nov.: 73. Overview of typical habitat in Alto Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil (Photo: M. M. Casagrande).