Doryodes reineckei Sullivan & Lafontaine

Lafontaine, J. Donald & Sullivan, J. Bolling, 2015, A revision of the genus Doryodes Guenee, 1857, with descriptions of six new species (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Catocalinae, Euclidiini), ZooKeys 527, pp. 3-30 : 17-21

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Erebidae

Doryodes reineckei Sullivan & Lafontaine sp. n. Figs 23-24, 25-28, 41, 48

Type material.

Holotype ♂, Alabama. Baldwin Co., Camp Beckwith, UV trap, Spartina-Juncus marsh, W 30.39538; N -87.84657; 7 Aug. 2009. J. Bolling Sullivan. USNM. Paratypes: 122 ♂, 74 ♀. Alabama. Same data as for holotype but collected 5 Aug. 2009 (one with slide CNC 16414) (5 ♂), 9 Aug. 2009, one with barcode label CNCLEP 00113509 (2 ♂); Baldwin Co., Weeks Bay Preserve, N 30.414°, W -87.833°; 4 Aug. 2009. J. Bolling Sullivan, barcodes 09-MISC-050, 051, 052, 053 (4 ♂). Louisiana. St. Tammany Parish, 4.2 mi NE Abita Springs, sec 24, T6S R12E, N 30°30.986', W 89°57.276', 8 April 1983, V.A. Brou Jr. (1 ♂); same locality and collector, 15 & 20 May, 2 Sept. 1983 (5 ♂, 2 ♀), 13, 26-30 April, 8 & 23 May & 8 Aug. 1984 (2 ♂, 7 ♀), 26 & 28 April 1985 (1 ♂, 1 ♀), 1 May, 10 May, CNC ♀ slide 16056, 11, 14, 16 & 22 May 1986 (5 ♂, 4 ♀), 9 & 31 May & 29 Nov. 1988 (2 ♂, 1 ♀), 8 April, 25 May & 6 June 1989 (2 ♂,1 ♀), 26 Feb., 10 March, 14 May & 2 June 1990 (3 ♂, 1 ♀), 12 April 1991 (1 ♀), 24 June 1992 (1 ♂), 14 April & 16 Nov. 1993 (2 ♂), 17 April & 4 May 1994 (2 ♂), 29 March, 23 April & 2 Aug. 1995 (3 ♂), 20 & 22 April, 20 May & 29 May 1996 (4 ♂, 2 ♀), 24 Feb. & 1 March 1997 (2 ♂), 16 June 1998 (1 ♂), 4 April 1999 (1 ♂), 19 March 2000 (2 ♀), 28 April 2001 (1 ♂), 24 Jan., 15, 16 & 22 March 2002 (3 ♂, 7 ♀), 7 & 8 April 2005 (1 ♂, 2 ♀), 27 March, 26 April & 2 May 2006 (3 ♂), 28 April, 5 May & 6 June 2007 (3 ♂), 28 March slide CNC 16410 ♂, 31 March, 11 April barcode CNCLEP 00113564, 16 April, 1 May, 19 June & 11 Aug. 2008 (4 ♂, 3 ♀), 14 Feb., 21 March, 12, 19, 21 & 28 April 2009 (7 ♂, 1 ♀), 21 March, 3, 23 & 25 April, 5, 24 & 26 May 2010 (6 ♂, 2 ♀), 21 Jan., 8, 22, 25, 26 & 27 April, 3, 8 & 28 May 2011 (8 ♂, 6 ♀), 12 Feb., 10 April 2012, barcodes CNCLEP 00113563 & 00113568, 22 April, 9 June 2012 (2 ♂, 3 ♀), 10 April 2013, barcode CNCLEP 00113511, 10 April 2013, CNC slide ♀ 16436 (2 ♀), V.A. Brou Jr. St. Tammany Parish, Hwy 90 at Hwy 433, 8 May 1971, E.H. Metzler, Female genitalia on slide # E.H.M. 683 (1 ♀). Cameron Parish, Johnson’s Bayou, 23 Oct. 1985, V.A. Brou Jr. (1 ♂). Lafourche Parish, Cut Off, 21 Feb., 11 & 19, 20, 21, & amp; 25 April, 16 May 1975, V.A. Brou Jr. (3 ♂, 14 ♀). Lafourche Parish, near Golden Meadow, 2 July & 6 Aug. 2005 (3 ♀), 25 March 2007, V.A. Brou Jr. (1 ♀). St. John the Baptist Parish, Edgard, 23 April 1973, (1 ♂), 16 April 1975 (1 ♂), 26 March, 18 & 23 April & 1 May 1976 (5 ♂, 1 ♀), 22 April, 5, 6 & 23 May 1977 (3 ♂, 2 ♀), 1, 7, 8 & 11 May & 3 June 1978 (5 ♂), 22 March, 1, 13 & 24 April & 2 May 1979 (6 ♂, 2 ♀), 9 May 1981 (1 ♂), 6 Jan., 16 & 24 March, 2, 17, 18 & 24 April 1982 (6 ♂, 1 ♀), 14 May 1983 (2 ♂, 1♀), V.A. Brou Jr. Mississippi. Harrison County, Long Beach, 11 Feb. 1995, R. Kergosien (1 ♂); Jackson Co., G.C.R.L. Ocean Sp. [Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs], 25 January 1993, R. Kergosien (1 ♂). CNC, EHMC, FSCA, JBSC, MEM, USNM, VABC.

Etymology.

The species is named for John P. Reinecke, a retired USDA entomologist who worked in Mississippi and developed insect organ culture techniques and detailed the anatomy of the hindgut of larval Lepidoptera.

Diagnosis.

This species occurs with Doryodes latistriga , Doryodes broui , and Doryodes tenuistriga in coastal salt marsh habitats from Alabama to Texas. Doryodes bistrialis may occur nearby on the Gulf Coast, but inhabits inland longleaf pine savannas rather than salt marshes. Doryodes reineckei is immediately distinguished from other species of Doryodes in having a broader forewing in the male, the wing pattern appears faded and smudged, and the ventral margin of the longitudinal stripe appears to blend into the forewing ground color below it, not sharply defined as in other species. The male genitalia of Doryodes reineckei are smaller than those of Doryodes latistriga , but the characters of the vesica are definitive. In Doryodes reineckei the three patches of cornuti on the basal trunk of the vesica are rotated to the left, so the basal one is more lateral than dorsal; diverticulum 1 of the vesica projects dorsally and has a rooster-comb-like cornutus, whereas in Doryodes latistriga and Doryodes broui there is a tapered diverticulum (or rounded lobe) projecting posteriorly with a small spined cornutus on the side, and diverticulum 2 has no cornutus in Doryodes reineckei , whereas in the other two species there is a large cornutus at the base of the diverticulum. Females are immediately distinguishable by their whitish-gray forewing color with the longitudinal stripe is absent, or very faint, compared with the normal pattern seen in other species of Doryodes . Females have acutely pointed forewings.

Description.

Forewing length 15.0-17.0 mm (males), 17.0-20.0 mm (females). Male noticeably broader winged than other species of Doryodes . Forewing pale brown to dark gray brown, darker forms in colder months; longitudinal dark stripe paler and less sharply defined than in other species, lower margin of stripe blending into darker ground color below it; wing margin more rounded than in other species. Male genitalia with valve similar in size to that of Doryodes spadaria but aedeagus much shorter (2.29 versus 2.97 mm), about 7.5 × as long as mesial width; basal trunk of the vesica with three patches of cornuti, two ventrolaterally on right side of aedeagus, largest one basal, dorsolaterally on left with multiple spinules on a heavily-sclerotized oval plate. Vesica above basal trunk T-shaped, elongated posteriorly-directed diverticulum 1 with a preapical rooster-comb-like cornutus on anterior surface, a small rounded diverticulum 2 on posterior right side opposite end of aedeagus, a sclerotized plate at 90° ventral angle in vesica next to ductus seminalis, and a ventral rounded apical diverticulum 5 with a conical cornutus on left side. Female genitalia disproportionally small, especially sclerotized plate in ventral wall of ductus bursae only 2.5 × as long as posterior width, plate tapered anteriorly, only 0.55-0.65 × as long as ductus bursae; ductus seminalis broad at base and gradually tapered, so appearing much wider than other species except Doryodes tenuistriga , and, like Doryodes tenuistriga , corpus bursae more rounded than in other species; appendix bursae a rounded lightly-sclerotized lobe with slightly bilobed posterior margin.

Distribution and biology.

The species has been collected from the western panhandle of Florida along the Gulf Coast to eastern Texas. Dates are from April to August but it is likely on the wing throughout the year. Nothing is known of its biology other than its association with Spartina marshes. Adults probably occur throughout the year, but most records are from a large brood occurring between mid-March and late June, with a minor second brood in the late summer and fall (V.A. Brou Jr. pers. comm.).