Acontia albifusa Ferris & Lafontaine, 2009

Ferris, Clifford & Lafontaine, Donald, 2009, Review of the Acontia areli group with descriptions of three new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Acontiinae), ZooKeys 9 (9), pp. 27-46 : 44-46

Acontia albifusa Ferris & Lafontaine , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0454EE2E-1B4D-4C51-9A87-CD5CE24B84CA

Figs. 1 , 14-15 , 21 , 27 , 30

Type material. Holotype ♁: Arizona. Pima Co., Mt Lemmon Hwy. , mi 2.2, 3500', saguaro forest habitat, 13 Aug. 2004, J. B. Walsh. [ CNC, Ottawa, Canada] . Paratypes

8 ♁, 1 ♀ (6 dissections): Arizona: Pima Co., Mt Lemmon Hwy., mi 5.7, 4400', oak riparian habitat, 18 June & 14 Sept. 2004, J. B. Walsh (2 ♁) ; Pima Co., Baboquivari Mts. , 15-30 Aug., 1924, O. C. Poling (1 ♁) ; Pima Co., Baboquivari Mts., Brown Canyon , 3880' (1183 m), 19 Aug., 2006, C. D. Ferris (1 ♁) ; “ Arizona ” (2 ♁); Santa Cruz Co., Santa Rita Mts., Madera Canyon , 4800', 30 June & 2 July 1959, 1 July 1960, J. G. Franclemont (2 ♁, 1 ♀). Paratypes deposited in CNC, CUIC, USNM, and the personal collections of C. D. Ferris and J. B. Walsh .

Distribution ( Fig. 30 ).

Note. Material of this species was distributed by E. L. Todd under the unpublished manuscript name “ Acontia agricola .”

Etymology. The name of this species refers to the pale basal coloring that diffuses into the dark outer shading.

Diagnosis. DFW basal area creamy yellow in both sexes; brown area mottled, not uniformly dark; prominent dark patch distal to reniform spot.

Description. Adult male: Head – dark brown with circular pale patch on frons; antenna filiform; palpi porrect slightly longer than eye width, white basally, shading to brown distally head dark brown. Thorax – prothoracic collar and thorax white. Foreleg: coxa white with middle brown spot; femur, tibia and tarsus brown with white-ring in middle of tibia and at joints. Middle leg: femur and tibia white with brown rings at femoral-tibia joint and near apex of tibia; tarsus brown, white-ringed at joints. Hindleg: femur and tibia white; first tarsal segment white shading to brown at joint with second segment; remaining tarsi brown, white-ringed at joints. Wings: male (FWL 9.5- 11 mm). DFW: ground color dark creamy-white over basal half of wing with pale brown transverse lines; splotchy brown and pale on remainder of wing producing a very mottled aspect; prominent white preapical patch on costa; orbicular spot virtually obsolete, defined only by a few dark scales; reniform spot circular, outlined in back and filled mainly with iridescent blue scales; a prominent dark bar distal to reniform spot; a second reniform-like spot below and proximal to reniform spot irregularly outlined in black and with some blue scales in middle; a brown bar below this spot on inner margin; terminal line an irregular series of dark dashes; fringe a mixture of white, gray, and pale brown scales with pale-colored scales concentrated to form a patch near middle of wing and a smaller patch distal to reniform spot. DHW: luminous white, nearly hyaline, with pale brown marginal band; fringe white. Female (FWL 10.5 mm, 1 specimen) – similar to male. Male genitalia ( Fig. 21 ) – uncus: decurved, long, narrow, tapering to pointed tip. Valve: asymmetrical; right valve roughly rectangular, pointed at apex of dorsal margin; corona well-developed; clasper on ventral margin of right valve, narrower near base than at ventral apex of cucullus where clasper abruptly tapers into a long, curved spine follows outer margin of cucullus almost to apex; dorsal margin of clasper with elongated, triangular process on dorsal margin near base; saccular process smooth, broad, somewhat spatulate apically, lying along dorsal margin of clasper; left valve similar to right valve but saccular extension absent and apical part of clasper with spine-like apical part reduced to short inward hook at ventral apex of valve. Aedeagus: very similar to that of A. toddi except cornutus at base of subbasal diverticulum larger than in A. toddi . Female genitalia ( Fig. 27 ) – ostium bursae funnel-like, tapering only slightly to junction with ductus bursae; lower portion of tubular ductus bursae moderately sclerotized, in length about 0.45 × length of ovoid corpus bursae; spinose pouch of corpus bursae to left of ductus.

Biology. Unknown. Adults June–September in oak habitat riparian canyons and saguaro cactus forest, 3500-4800' (1065-1465 m).

Figures

Figure 1. Diagnostic characters for separating the five Acontia areli group species found in the United States. The Mexican A. areletta is similar to A. areloides, but with an all white hindwing.

Figures 2-16. Acontia areli group adults. 2-4. A. areli, 2 ♁, Catron Co., NM; 3 ♁, Grant Co., NM; 4 ♀, Grant Co., NM; 5-7. A. areloides, 5 ♁, Grant Co., NM; 6 ♁, Catron Co., NM; 7 ♀, Catron Co., NM. 8-10. A. toddi, 8 ♁, holotype, Emery Co., UT, 9 ♁, Yavapai Co., AZ, 10 ♀, Emery Co., UT. 11-13. A. geminocula, 11 ♁, holotype, Yavapai Co., AZ; 12 ♁, Cochise Co., AZ; 13 ♀, Pima Co., AZ. 14-15. A. albifusa, 14 ♁, holotype, Pima Co., AZ, 15 ♀, Pima Co., AZ. 16. A. areletta ♁, San Jacinto, Mexico.

Figures 20-22. Acontia areli group male genitalia (left – ventral; right – lateral). 20 A. geminocula, 21 A. albifusa, 22 A. areletta.

Figures 23-27. Acontia areli group female genitalia. 23 A. areli, 24 A. areloides, 25 A. toddi, 26 A. geminocula, (26a ventral; 26b lateral), 27 A. albifusa.

Figures 29-30. Acontia distribution maps. 29 A. areloides. 30 A. albifusa.