Porphyrogenes despecta ( Butler, 1870 )

Austin, George T. & Mielke, Olaf H. H., 2008, Hesperiidae of Rondônia, Brazil: Porphyrogenes Watson (Lepidoptera: Pyrginae: Eudamini), with descriptions of new species from Central and South America, Insecta Mundi 2008 (44), pp. 1-56 : 5-6

Porphyrogenes despecta ( Butler, 1870)

( Fig. 5, 6 , 55, 56 , 117 , 136 )

Augiades despecta Butler, 1870 . Type locality: Pará [ Brazil]; female type (herein designated the lectotype, Fig. 5, 6 ) in BM(NH).

Description. Male ( Fig. 55, 56 ) - forewing length = 18.0 mm, 19.2 mm (both from Pará, Brazil); forewing with costal fold, apex slightly rounded, termen convex, anal margin convex basad; hindwing termen convex, tornus produced to very short lobe, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than to its base and well distad of CuA 2 ( Fig. 117 ); dorsum brown, unmarked; forewing overscaled with tawny, heaviest basad, anal margin with dense tuft on convex portion; hindwing overscaled with tawny posterior to vein Rs; shining gray speculum in anterior discal cell (very small in basal area), proximal 1/2 of Sc+R 1 - Rs, and proximal 1/4 of costal cell; short black recumbent tuft near base of Sc+R 1 -Rs, longer semierect black basad and tawny distad tuft arising from near base of discal cell covering speculum in discal cell and, with anterior tuft, covering basal portion of speculum in Sc+R 1 -Rs ( Fig. 117 ); conspicuous erect tawny tuft along anterior edge of vein 2A, recumbent tawny tuft from posterior edge of 2A; fringes on both wings dark gray-brown.

Venter similar to dorsum; tawny color duller; forewing vein 2A straight, bare and broadly swollen in second 1/6 (from base), not conspicuously in groove ( Fig. 117 ), shining gray speculum in proximal 1/3 of CuA 2 -2A and in proximal 2/3 of anal cell (continued to tornus as modified tan scales); hindwing with no indication of discal macules; cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of 2A.

Dorsal head and thorax tawny, palpi pale ochreous, eyes red, antennae black, yellow on venter and under apiculus, nudum red-brown, 25 (n = 1) or 26 (n = 1) segments, ventral thorax and pectus tawny, legs ochreous-brown, dorsal abdomen brown, overscaled with tawny, ventral abdomen brown.

Genitalia ( Fig. 136 ) - tegumen broad in lateral view, broad and oval in dorsal view, medium length, thin, and curved dorso-caudal oriented process from each side of caudal end, tuft single and sparse; uncus decurved in lateral view, divided in U-shape in dorsal view, arms moderately separated, long and diverging, ventral process of uncus narrowly triangular; gnathos shorter than uncus, upcurved, terminal ends rounded in ventral view; combined ventral arms from tegumen and dorsal arms from saccus strongly curved; saccus very long, thin, oriented dorso-cephalad; valva with costa-ampulla rounded, curving gradually ventro-caudad to harpe, harpe short, broad cephalad narrowing to point caudad, curving evenly upward and slightly inward caudad, caudal end oriented nearly dorsad; aedeagus about length of valva, broad with dorsal point at caudal end in lateral view; cornuti as cluster of thin and slightly curved spikes.

Female (measured and described from photographs including type, Fig. 5, 6 ) - forewing length = 18.6 mm, 19.4 mm (n = 2); forewing apex pointed, termen slightly convex, anal margin slightly convex; hindwing termen convex but less so than on male, tornus produced to short tornal lobe, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than to its base and distad of CuA 2; dorsum brown, overscaled with tawny, heaviest basad; forewing with two whitish macules, one lunulate in CuA 1 -CuA 2, under origin of vein CuA 1, smaller macule more distad in M 3 -CuA 1 under origin of vein M 3; hindwing overscaled with tawny over most of wing except at apex, no indication of discal macules; fringes on both wings brownish.

Venter similar to dorsum but paler brown with less dense overscaling; forewing vein 2A very slightly curved, pale tan in anal cell; hindwing immaculate, cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of vein 2A.

Dorsal head, thorax, and palpi tawny, ventral palpi tawny-gray, eyes appear brown, antennae dark appearing pale beneath apiculus; ventral thorax, pectus, and legs tawny, dorsal abdomen brown, ventral abdomen gray-brown.

Genitalia – not examined.

Distribution and phenology. Porphyrogenes despecta has been reported from Guyana; Pará, Brazil; and Peru ( Butler 1870, Draudt 1922, Evans 1952, Robbins et al. 1996). Two males of P. despecta were examined from Pará, Brazil (Belém, July, GTA #7587; “Para”, GTA #4183).

Diagnosis and discussion. Evans (1952) indicated that three females of P. despecta from Pará were at the BM(NH) along with six associated males from the same location. One of those females ( Fig. 5, 6 ) is here designated as the lectotype of Augiades despecta . It bears the following five labels: / Pará Amazonas /. / Druce coll. /, / Augiages despecta Butl. Type /, / Godman-Salvin Coll. 1912-23. Lignyostola despecta Butl. /, and / Type H.T. H. 222 /. It is necessary to define the species with a lectotype because of confusion in its identity and the possibility that the three syntypes may not be conspecific.

This small species, described from a female, is similar to P. ferruginea from which it was distinguished above. Evans (1952) described the female of P. despecta as having two small macules on the forewing. Draudt (1922) illustrated (very poorly) an apparent female with large macules on the forewing under Lignyostola despecta . Another individual, having a single small macule on the forewing, illustrated in Draudt (1922) as L. ferrugineus , is a taxon thought to probably be near P. despecta by Godman (1907). This may be a female of P. despecta or a male of P. ferruginea . The removal of Phareas ferruginea from synonymy with P. despecta was discussed above.

Figures

Figure 1-18. Types and associated specimens of Porphyrogenes (ds = dorsal surface, vs = ventral surface). 1) Porphyrogenes boliva Evans, 1952, [holo]type male, ds. 2) same, vs. 3) Phareas ferruginea Plötz, 1883, lectotype male, ds. 4) same, vs. 5) Augiades despecta Butler, 1870, lectotype female, ds. 6) same, vs. 7) Telegonus omphale Butler, 1871, lectotype male, ds. 8) same, vs. 9) Eudamus pausias Hewitson, 1867, lectotype male, ds. 10) same, vs. 11) Porphyrogenes pausias, female associated with lectotype, ds. 12) same, vs. 13) Telegonus probus Möschler, 1877, lectotype female, ds. 14) same, vs. 15) Porphyrogenes suva Evans, 1952, [holo]type male, ds. 16) same, vs. 17) Telemiades vulpecula Plötz, 1882, lectotype male, ds. 18) same, vs.

Figure 51-64. Porphyrogenes (ds = dorsal surface, vs = ventral surface). 51) P. boliva, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 17 August 1993, ds. 52) same, vs. 53) P. ferruginea, male, ECUADOR: La Selva, ds. 54) same, vs. 55) P. despecta, male, [BRAZIL], Pará, no date, ds. 56) same, vs. 57) P. omphale, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 18 November 1992, ds. 58) same, vs. 59) P. omphale, female, PANAMA: Panamá Prov.; Distrito de El Llano, Cordillera de San Blas, north of El Llano, ca. 330m, 9 May 1978, ds. 60) same, vs. 61) P. pausias, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; linha C-10, 5 km S of Cacaulândia, 13 November 1994, ds. 62) same, vs. 63) P. pausias, female, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 16 April 1997, ds. 64) same, vs.

Figure 115-123. Venation and some secondary sexual characters of male Porphyrogenes. Shown is ventral surface including modification of vein 2A and extent of speculum on ventral forewing (irregular line in CuA 2 -2A and anal cell) and origins of veins on hindwing. Insert is of anterior portion of dorsal hindwing showing hair-like tufts. 115) P. boliva, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #1616); 116) P. ferruginea, BRAZIL: Amazonas (GTA #4184); 117) P. despecta, BRAZIL: Pará (GTA #7587); 118) P. pausias, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #4212); 119) P. omphale, BRAZIL:Rondônia (no number); 120) P. probus (GTA #6700); 121) P. sororcula, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #8879); 122) P. spanda, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3225); 123) P. stresa, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3927).

Figure 134-139. Male genitalia of Porphyrogenes; shown are lateral view of uncus, gnathos, tegumen, and saccus; dorsal view of uncus and tegumen; ventral view of uncus and gnathos; juxta; lateral view (with extended vesica) and often dorsal view of aedeagus; internal lateral view of right valva (inset shows the flattened harpe). 134) P. boliva, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3499); 135) P. ferruginea, BRAZIL: Amazonas (GTA #4184); 136) P. despecta, BRAZIL:Pará (GTA #7587); 137) P. omphale, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3229); 138) P. pausias, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #4212); 139) P. probus, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #6700).