Cithaerias esmeralda (Doubleday), 2021

Penz, Carla M., 2021, Revised species definitions and nomenclature of the blue and purple / rose Cithaerias butterflies (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), Zootaxa 4963 (2), pp. 293-316 : 301-302

Cithaerias esmeralda (Doubleday) , STAT. REV.

( Figs 3a–c , 7a , 9b , 10 )

Haetera esmeralda Doubleday, 1845 ; Descriptions of new or imperfectly described diurnal Lepidoptera . Annals and Magazine of natural History 16(106): 304–308.

Type locality: Brazil, Pará .

Type material: The male holotype is deposited in The Natural History Museum , UK .

Distribution. Brazil, Pará. See map ( Fig. 10 ) for localities of examined specimens.

Diagnosis. This species is defined based on the following combination of characters (numbered in Fig. 3a–c ): (1) male HW submarginal and marginal bands amalgamated and thin; (2) male HW postmedial band proximal to the ocellus below M 1 thin, fragmented, often limited to cell Rs; (3) male HW postmedial band broad around tornus, sometimes absent from cell M 3; (4) male HW scale cover pink-violet, dense and limited to the tornus area, covering postmedial band, and enclosing medium-small pink spots; (5) female similar to male but with wider HW brown bands on wing membrane, and a continuous postmedial band including the portion outlining the ocellus below M 1; (6) dense scale cover at tornus can be of the same color and intensity as in males or paler, pink spots at tornus usually larger than in males. Male genitalia ( Fig. 7a ): in lateral view, uncus bent near base, longer than tegumen; in dorsal view, the uncus and short tegument form a shallowly sinuous outline. In ventral view, valva relatively thin, sinuous. Saccus broad, triangular-shaped, shorter than in bandusia . Phallus long and smoothly curved approximately at midpoint. Sub-anal plate somewhat rectangular, adjacent area mildly sclerotized with small microtrichia. Female genitalia ( Fig. 9b ): sterigma short and narrow (as compared to other species in this study), ostium bursae wide; post-sterigmal plate weakly sclerotized, rounded and bearing minute microtrichia. Antrum long and slightly more sclerotized than the ductus bursae; the length of the antrum plus ductus bursae seems to match the elongated male phallus. Corpus bursae lacks signa.

Variation in wing pattern ( Fig. 3a–c ). Few specimens were available for examination but males showed variation in HW color pattern (compare Fig. 3a and c ). Specifically, the pink-violet area on the HW tornus ranges from bright pink to vivid violet. The small pink spots near the HW margin vary in size among the examined male specimens, less so in females.

Subspecies. None.

Remarks. Both male and female C. esmeralda show remarkable differences in color pattern and genitalia morphology from C. andromeda where they had been placed by Lamas 1998). These differences include: dense hind wing scaling, elongate and arched phallus, bent uncus, and a short and delicate sterigma (compare Fig. 3a–c to Fig. 2 , Fig. 7a to Fig. 6 , Fig. 9b to 9a). Furthermore, C. esmeralda has been collected at the same locality with C. bandusia ; i.e., Brazil, Pará, Santarém based on CMNH and LACM specimens (note that Taperinha is 56 km east of Santarém). This species differs from C. bandusia by having pink-violet wing color (compare Fig. 3a–c to 3d–g) and an evenly arched phallus, rather than the sharply bent one in C. bandusia , (compare Fig. 7a to 7b). Thus, the species status for C. esmeralda proposed here is justified by wing color and genitalia characters plus putative sympatry with C. bandusia .

Material examined: MALE: 1♂, Brazil, Amazonas , Mujo (sic, locality unknown to me), 21 Dec 1940, 19-01 Dissected by CM Penz ( FMNH); 1♂, Brazil, Pará (Miles Moss) 19-03 Dissected by CM Penz ( FMNH); 2M, Bra- zil, Pará , Benevides, Oct 1918 ( CMNH); 1M, Brazil, Pará, Santarém, Taperinha ( ETHZ) . FEMALE: 1♀, Brazil, Amazonas , 21 Dec 1940, 19-02 Dissected by CM Penz; ( FMNH); 1♀, Brazil, Pará , km 1666 Cuiabá-Santarém Highway, 26 Jul 1978, 19-04 Dissected by CM Penz ( FMNH); 2F, Brazil, Pará, Santarém ( CMNH); 1F, Brazil, Pará, Santarém, Taperinha ( ETHZ) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. a–m, C. andromeda; composite pictures show dorsal view on the left, ventral on the right. n, C. aurora (C. Felder & R. Felder). Collecting localities and genitalia dissection codes appear below each specimen. Mauro Costa Cicognani provided the photograph of one of the C. andromeda specimens (m), and granted permission for its use here.

FIGURE 3. a–c, C. esmeralda; d–g, C. bandusia; and h–i C. azurina; dorsal view on the left, ventral on the right. Collecting localities and genitalia dissection codes appear below each specimen. Cithaerias azurina specimens were photographed before dissection, collection labels were reduced to 70% of their original size.

FIGURE 6. Male genitalia in lateral and ventral views, tegumen and uncus in dorsal view, phallus in lateral view, and subscaphium in ventral view. Valva setae shown on one side only. Given that the two parts of the subscaphium (subanal plate and adjacent area containing microtrichia) rest on the diaphragma, the variation in the shape of the subanal plate might include slight preparation artifacts. Scale bar 1 mm for all images. a, C. andromeda (Guyana, Berbice) dissection CMP 13-22; b, C. andromeda (Guyana, Mt. Ayanganna) dissection CMP 19-05; c, C. andromeda (French Guiana, Maroni River) dissection CMP 19-11.

FIGURE 7. Male genitalia in lateral and ventral views, tegumen and uncus in dorsal view, phallus in lateral view, and subscaphium in ventral view. Valva setae shown on one side only. Given that the two parts of the subscaphium (subanal plate and adjacent area containing microtrichia) rest on the diaphragma, the variation in the shape of the subanal plate might include slight preparation artifacts. Scale bar 1 mm for all images. a, C. esmeralda (Brazil, Pará) dissection CMP 19-03; b, C. bandusia (Brazil, Pará, Rio Tapajós) dissection CMP 19-08; c, C. azurina ([Brazil, Amazonas] Rio Papori (sic)) dissection CMP 19-14.

FIGURE 9. Female genitalia in ventral view, including schematic representation of papilla anales and abdomen outline (scale patches, general scaling, and setae excluded). Scale bar 1 mm for all images. a, C. andromeda (British Guiana, Potaro River) dissection CMP 13–32; b, C. esmeralda (Brazil, Pará) dissection CMP 19-04; c, C. bandusia (Brazil, Pará, Santarém) dissection CMP 14-11; d, C. azurina ([Brazil, Amazonas] Rio Papori (sic)) dissection CMP 19-15; e, C. pyropina pyropina (Peru, Tingo María) dissection CMP 13-31; f, C. pyropina julia (Ecuador, Macas) dissection CMP 19-16; g, C. songoana (Bolivia, Rio Songo (sic)) dissection CMP 20-17. The arrow in e shows a separate drawing of the sclerotized post-sterigmal plate (folded behind the sterigma in the prepared specimen, and also in f and g). This structure is present in all species examined, and all have microtrichia, which vary in size between species.

FIGURE 10. Map showing the collecting localities of examined specimens (excluding dubious localities). Circles marked with a white dot represent specimens examined from photographs.