Clito palotschka Grishin

Grishin, Nick V., 2014, Two new species of Clito from South America and a revision of the Clito littera group (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Pyrginae), Zootaxa 3861 (3), pp. 231-248 : 238-241

Clito palotschka Grishin , new species

( Figs. 1–6 , 24 , 26 h, j–k, 27 part, 28 part)

Description. Male: ( Figs. 1–6 ): right forewing length = 16.3 mm in holotype, 16 mm and 14.6 mm in paratypes. Forewing elongated, triangular, apex not produced, outer margin convex, straighter near tornus, costal fold between 1/6 from the base to half of costa, scales inside beige in color. Dorsal forewing brown, overscaled with olive-gray, discal hyaline spots in discal, Cu1-Cu2, and Cu2-2A cells shaped on the right forewing as U, V, and w (or mirror of ב, <, and ε, viewing base-to-apex, reading costa-to-inner margin), respectively, middle spot the largest, in one paratype not fully clefted distad but arrowhead-shaped, discal cell spot basal margin angled to costa, posterior half thicker than anterior half; a broad Ω (or ל) -shaped belt of six smaller submarginal hyaline spots in cells between R3 and Cu1 vein. Ventral forewing pattern similar to dorsal, discal spots slightly broader, background paler closer to inner margin. Hindwing triangular, anal margin longer than costal margin, tornus and apex not produced, margin mildly convex, slightly indented at M1 and Cu2 veins. Dorsal hindwing brown, overscaled with olive-gray, with a slightly paler, off-white discal band from Sc+R1 vein to 2A vein, a quarter of the wing width at the level of discal cell, band broadest when crossing the base of M3-Cu1 cell, then narrowing abruptly to a well-defined B-shaped white patch half of the band width in Cu2-2A cell, its distal margin strongly offset basad at the vein Rs (or, the basal Rs-M1 cell pale spot offset distad), brown end-of-cell bar, more or less defined and interrupted in the middle, pale spot in Sc+R1-Rs cell rhomboid, about half of the maximal band width; vague, slightly paler than background submarginal and marginal blotches of gray-olive scales in every cell, costal cell paler than background, anal fold brown. Ventral hindwing pattern similar to dorsal, but slate overscaling more extensive basad, pale areas more contrasting with brown background, discal band paler, almost white, with sharply defined edges, end-of-cell bar weaker than above, 2A cell to inner margin with a broad central paler area, submarginal and marginal pale blotches weaker than above or not expressed. Fringes brown, the same color as wing margins. Head, thorax and abdomen grayish olive brown above, slate beneath with palpi and pectus yellower, head above with patches of paler scales on palpi, frons, above the eyes and on collar, white spots posteriad antennae above the eyes, antenna dark brown, largely slate at anterior margin basad, partly ringed with white beneath at segments near club, nudum reddish brown with 22 segments (n=2), legs brown with slate and brown yellowish scales.

Male genitalia: ( Figs. 24 and 26 h, j–k, 27 part): tegumen broad and short, only slightly extending anteriad of vinculum; uncus undivided, almost straight in lateral view, with a pair of small lateral lobes at the base; gnathos separated from uncus by a distance of its length; saccus short and rounded, about two time broader than vinculum; valva elongated, with a very long, 4 times longer than wide, in length equal to the length of cucullus, rod-shaped process originating from costa closer to the base of valva, directed posterodorsad, and terminating in a stronger sclerotized, granular tip, no processes from sacculus; cucullus about equal to body of valva in length, broad, but elongated, about half of its length (anteroposterior direction) in height (dorso-ventral direction), not separated from ampulla, dorsal edge of valva evenly concave from the base of the process to the caudal end of cucullus, cucullus slightly bent dorsal, terminating in finely serrated area pointing dorsad; penis broad, longer than genital capsule, elevating distad dorsal serrated ridge 1/3 from distal end angled ventral projection near apex, a pack of longer cornuti and a row of smaller cornuti.

Female: unknown or unrecognized.

Types. Holotype male, with the following labels: white, printed: // ECUADOR: Esmeraldas / El Durango, 39 Km / San Lorenzo-Lita Road / 1° 02.45' N, 78° 38.06' W / 4 March 2001, 230– 300 m / D. H. Ahrenholz leg. //; white, handwritten: // overcast / hilltop / lightgap //; red, printed: // HOLOTYPE ♂ / Clito palotschka / Grishin //. Two male paratypes from the same location, collected 25, 27 Aug 2002 by J. P. W. Hall & M. A. Solis. The holotype and paratypes are in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA (USNM).

Type locality. Ecuador: Esmeraldas Province, El Durango, km 39 Lita - San Lorenzo road, 1° 02.45' N, 78° 38.06' W, elevation about 300 m.

Etymology. " Palotschka " (палочка, pronounced similar to "pal-otch-kah" with the stress on the first syllable, i.e., "pa"[as in papa]-"lo"[as in log]-"ch"[as the first sound in check]-"kah" [as in cat], or /ˈpalət͡ ɕkə/ in International Phonetic Alphabet) is a Russian word that means a small stick or a rod, and also a letter of the Cyrillic script: "Ӏ". It refers to a rod-shaped projection off the costa in male genitalic valva, which is the most distinctive character of this new species that immediately sets it apart from all recognized Clito species. The spelling of the name is chosen to increase the chances it would be pronounced correctly in different languages. The name is a non-latinized noun in apposition.

Distribution. The species is currently known only from the type locality ( Fig. 28 ).

Diagnosis. The new species belongs to the C. littera group because it possesses distally deeply clefted U- or Vshaped spots in the forewing discal cell and in cell Cu1-Cu2, in wing patterns being close to C. jonkersi . It shares the following characters only with C. jonkersi , and not with the other Clito species: (a) the valva with a process on the costa; (b) the hindwing with a narrower pale discal band, edges of the band better defined; (c) the spot in Sc+R1-Rs cell rhomboid and indented basad relatively to the spot at the base of Rs-M1 cell.

It differs from the closest species, C. jonkersi , by the following characters: (1) the process from the costa on the valva is long, rod-shaped, at least 4 times its diameter, the same length as the cucullus, not stout and much shorter than the cucullus; (2) this process is closer to the base of the valva than to the base of the cucullus; (3) the cucullus is prominently elongated, not nearly square; (4) the ventral hindwing is without a row of prominent submarginal spots. These characters are given in the key below, illustrated in Fig. 27 , and localities of the C. littera group species mapped in Fig. 28 .

A specimen of the following new species was identified as " C. littera anda " by S. S. Nicolay, probably because it matched characters of C. littera as given in Evans (1953) but the locality ( Venezuela) was closer to that of C. anda . However, this specimen is clearly not C. anda due to ample differences in genitalia and wing patterns as discussed and illustrated below. A closer analysis suggested that it was not C. littera either. This species is named here.

Figures

FIGURE 24. Clito palotschka n. sp. male genitalia, paratype. Genitalia vial No. NVG 130614 - 43 [USNM] (specimen Figs. 5 – 6). Genital capsule in different views: a. right posterolateral; b. dorsal; c. left laterodorsal; d. right laterodorsal; e. left lateral; f. right lateral; g. right anteriorlateral; h. right ventrolateral; i. posterior; j. anterior; k. ventral. All images are to scale.

FIGURE 26. Male genitalia of Clito littera group species. a, g. C. littera lectotype, designated here, " Brasil ", P. Mabille collection 1923, R. Oberthür Coll., Brit. Mus. 1927 - 3, specimen No. BMNH (E) # 982948 [BMNH], in situ on a specimen, scales brushed off: a. various views rotating from right posterolateral through posterior to left posterolateral; g. ventrolateral (specimen Figs. 9 – 10); b, c. C. litteroides holotype, Venezuela: Aragua State, Rancho Grande [Biological Station, approximate GPS coordinates 10 ° 21 ' N 67 ° 41 ' W], elevation 1100 m, 4 - Jun- 1985, leg. S. S. Nicolay, genitalia vial NVG 130614 - 42 [USNM]: b. section of complete genitalia in posterolateral view; c. complete genitalia in lateral view and uncus with distal part of tegumen in dorsal view (specimen Figs. 7 – 8); d. C. nebulosa holotype, ventral, lateral and dorsal views of tegumen, uncus, gnathos and associated structures, lateral internal view of right valva, lateral view of penis, illustration from Mielke & Schröder (1994) (specimen Figs. 15 – 16); e, f. C. trinidadensis holotype, Trinidad, Morne Catherine, 24 - Mar- 1982, leg. M. J. W. Cock, specimen No. BMNH (E) # 982949 [BMNH], dorsal and lateral views of tegumen, uncus, gnathos and associated structures, lateral internal view of right valva, lateral view of penis, illustration from Cock (1998) (specimen Figs. 17 – 18); h. C. palotschka paratype, Ecuador: Esmeraldas Prov., El Durango, km 39 Lita – San Lorenzo road, 1 ° 02.45 ' N, 78 ° 38.06 ' W, 230 - 300 m, {25, 27} - Aug- 2002, leg. J. P. W. Hall & M. A. Solis [USNM], complete genitalia in lateral view and uncus with distal part of tegumen in dorsal view (specimen Figs. 5 – 6); i. C. jonkersi holotype, Surinam, Domburg, 8 - Mar- 1975, leg. E. H. Jonkers [RMNH], lateral internal view of left valva and lateral view of uncus and gnathos, illustration from de Jong (1983) (specimen Figs. 19 – 20); j. C. palotschka paratype, Ecuador: Esmeraldas Prov., El Durango, km 39 Lita – San Lorenzo road, 1 ° 02.45 ' N, 78 ° 38.06 ' W, 230 - 300 m, {25, 27} - Aug- 2002, leg. J. P. W. Hall & M. A. Solis [USNM], right valva and uncus in situ on a specimen, scales brushed off (specimen Figs. 3 – 4); k. C. palotschka holotype, Ecuador: Esmeraldas Prov., El Durango, km 39 Lita – San Lorenzo road, 1 ° 02.45 ' N, 78 ° 38.06 ' W, 230 - 300 m, 4 - Mar- 2001, leg. D. H. Ahrenholz [USNM], right valva in situ on a specimen, scales brushed off (specimen Figs. 1 – 2); l. C. anda, Brazil: Rondônia, Cacaulândia municipality, Fazenda Rancho Grande, genitalia No. GTA 4377, illustration from Austin (2000), ventral, lateral and dorsal views of tegumen, uncus, gnathos and associated structures, lateral internal view of right valva, lateral view of penis; m – o. C. anda [holo] type, French Guiana, Collect. C. Bar, R. Oberthür Coll., Brit. Mus. 1931 – 136, specimen No. BMNH (E) # 982947 [BMNH] (specimen Figs. 11 – 12), left valva on m. and Evans's sketches: n. pinned in the collection [BMNH]; o. published, and more stylized, version (Evans 1953), lateral internal view of left valva, lateral and ventral views of uncus, gnathos and distal half of penis. Species name is given below each image, holotypes and paratypes are labeled as HT and PT. Gray " F " indicates mirror image (left-right inverted). Images a, f, g, m – o. are copyright (©) Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (used with permission).

FIGURE 27. Visual keys to species in the Clito littera group. Dorsal and ventral aspects for each species are shown on the left and right of the species name, respectively. Images shown are illustrations, sometimes composed of photographic segments from left and right sides and digitally edited to highlight the wing patterns instead of imperfections in specimens. Images are set to be approximately the same size. Unedited and to scale photographs of specimens are shown in Figs. 1 – 20. Since these species are defined on the basis of male genitalia, which are likely to be diagnostic, wing pattern characters are preliminary due to exceedingly small samples of available specimens, and exceptions are expected. Wing pattern characters should be treated as suggestions for further research. Photographs of C. jonkersi and C. nebulosa are by Bernard Hermier and Ernst Brockmann, respectively. Images of C. littera, C. trinidadensis and C. anda are copyright (©) Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (used with permission).

FIGURE 28. Distribution of Clito littera group species. C. palotschka n. sp. — red heart; C. litteroides n. sp. — blue star; C. littera — black crosses, locality per label of the lectotype that states " Brasil " [not per original description (Mabille 1877), which states " Apurimacensi valle et Peruvia " and is likely incorrect], and similar phenotype currently known only from Brazil: Rio de Janeiro (specimens in OM-DZUP and MGCL); C. anda — purple up-pointing triangles; C. nebulosa — green square; C. trinidadensis — orange circle; C. jonkersi — cyan down-pointing triangles. Specimen image is shown near the type locality of each taxon, a line connects to the locality.

FIGURES 1 – 8. New species of Clito from the C. littera group. 1 – 6. C. palotschka n. sp.: Ecuador: Esmeraldas Prov., El Durango, km 39 Lita-San Lorenzo road, 1 ° 02.45 ' N, 78 ° 38.06 ' W, 230 – 300 m: 1 – 2. holotype, 4 - Mar- 2001, leg. D. H. Ahrenholz (valva in situ Fig. 26 k); 3 – 6. paratypes, {25, 27} - Aug- 2002, leg. J. P. W. Hall & M. A. Solis: 3 – 4. (valva in situ Fig. 26 j); 5 – 6. genitalia vial NVG 130614 - 43 (genitalia Figs. 24, 26 h). 7 – 8. C. litteroides n. sp., holotype, Venezuela: Aragua State, Rancho Grande [Biological Station, approximate GPS coordinates 10 ° 21 ' N 67 ° 41 ' W], elevation 1100 m, 4 - Jun- 1985, leg. S. S. Nicolay, genitalia vial NVG 130614 - 42 (genitalia Figs. 25, 26 b, c). All specimens are males and are in USNM collection. Dorsal and ventral surfaces are shown on odd- and even-numbered figures, respectively. Labels are shown between specimen images. Labels are reduced 2.5 times compared to specimens: small scale bar below P. palotschka holotype labels refers to labels, and larger scale bars refer to specimens.