Esthemopsis teras ( Stichel, 1910 )

Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik & Casagrande, Mirna Martins, 2014, Two new species of Esthemopsis C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865 (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae: Symmachiini) from southeastern and northeastern Brazil, with taxonomic comments on Esthemopsis teras (Stichel, 1910) stat. rev. and Esthemopsis pallida Lathy, 1932 stat. nov., Zootaxa 3784 (2), pp. 148-158 : 149-150

Esthemopsis teras ( Stichel, 1910) stat. rev.

( FigS 5–8 , 19–21 , 29 , 34 , 39 )

Lepricornis teras Stichel, 1910 . p. 147 pl. 26, fig. 34 (male dorsal and ventral).—Seitz, 1917. p. 656, pl. 128, fig. c [5] (male dorsal).— Zikán, 1928. p. 19.— Stichel, 1930. p. 383.— Ebert, 1969. p. 47.

Esthemopsis pherephatte teras ; Hall & Harvey, 2002. p. 197; syn.: pallida Lathy, 1932 .— Callaghan & Lamas, 2004. p. 157.— Siewert, Iserhard, Romanowski, Callaghan & Moser, 2014. (additional file 1).

Diagnosis. Esthemopsis teras can be distinguished from the superficially similar and potentially sympatric species E. sateri sp. nov. by the color of the frons, uniformly orange ventrally ( Fig. 20 ); by the color of the vertex which is dark brown with a white patch of scales between the antennae ( Figs 19–20 ); and some morphological features of both sexes’ genitalia, listed under E. sateri sp. nov.. Esthemopsis teras can be distinguished from its closest ally, E. diamantina sp. nov., mostly by the larger size of the former, and the large ellipsoidal subapical band, which reaches the space M3–CuA 1 in E. teras ( Figs 5, 7 , 29 ). Esthemopsis teras was considered a subspecies of E. pherephatte , but differs considerably: the subapical band is always white and ellipsoidal, while it is more or less rectangular and orange in E. pherephatte , reaching the space CuA1–CuA2. Additionally, while E. teras occurs mostly in lowlands of southern and southeastern Brazil, E. pherephatte occurs in Central America, and E. diamantina sp. nov. is only known to occur in a single locality over 600m in the Brazilian state of Bahia.

Taxonomic comments. E. teras was described in the genus Lepricornis C. Felder & R. Felder 1865 , based on two syntypes: one male from Santa Catarina, Brazil, and one female from the Madeira River, Amazonas, Brazil. The female syntype probably is not conspecific with the male, since E. teras is most likely restricted to southeastern Brazil. The female syntype was not examined, but it may belong to other Esthemopsis species or other riodinid genera, even outside the Symmachiini . To establish with certainty the identity of the species, the male syntype from Santa Catarina, illustrated by Stichel (1910) and Warren et al. (2013) is designated as lectotype of Lepricornis teras Stichel, 1910 . The male and female specimens identified as “ Lepricornis teras Stichel, 1910 ” illustrated by D’Abrera (1994: 962, figs [8] and [9]) are probably specimens of Pheles atricolor (Butler, 1871) . Based on the similarity of the male genitalia of E. teras ( Fig. 34 ) and E. pherephatte ( Fig. 33 ), Hall and Harvey (2002) considered the former as a subspecies of the latter, even though closer examination of the genitalia, other morphological characters such as pattern and coloration of the wings and the frons, and the distributional data indicate that they are in fact different species.

Note on E. pherephatte : Limnas caeruleata Godman & Salvin, 1878 was indirectly synonymized with E. pherephatte by Hall and Harvey (2002) ( Figs 1–4 ), a decision subsequently followed by Callaghan and Lamas (2004). The identity of E. caeruleata is clearly defined: the single type specimen, deposited at the BMNH, was discussed and illustrated by Godman & Salvin (1885 –1888) and Warren et al. (2013), and its immature stages were reared by Janzen and Hallwachs (2013). On the other hand, Erycina pherephatte Godart, [1824] was described based on an unknown number of the specimens, which certainly included male and females specimens. However, the type series is apparently lost (G. Lamas, pers. comm.), and the brief description of the male fits equally a number of other species of Riodinidae . Godart [1824: 590] regards this species as possibly a variety (“ peut-être qu’une varieté ”) of the superficially similar Panara phereclus (Linnaeus, 1758) ( Riodininae : Riodinini ) with a shorter yellowish band on the forewing. The description of the female refers to a specimen (or specimens) with a row of marginal white spots or points on the underside of the hindwing (“ rangée marginale de points blancs ”, Godart [1824]: 562; “ serie marginali punctorum alborum ” and “ rangée terminale de taches blanches ”, Godart [1824]: 590). This description fits accurately the phenotype of the female of Setabis lagus (Cramer, 1777) ( Riodininae : Nymphidiini ), as previously interpreted by Stichel (1911: 347, 1930: 668). The specimen figured as belonging to the type series of Erycina pherephatte Godart [1824] by Warren et al. (2013) and examined by Callaghan (1995), deposited at the MNHN and labeled “ pherephate [sic] God [Godart] type le seul individu connu [type, the only known individual]”, is a heavily damaged female specimen, quite different from the female described by Godart [1824]. This specimen probably does not belong to the type series of Erycina pherephatte Godart [1824] . In conclusion, Erycina pherephatte Godart, [1824] may not correspond to the same species described by Godman and Salvin (1878). Furthermore, the apparently lost type series of Erycina pherephatte Godart, [1824] could contain more than one species, as the female described by Godart [1824] is unlike any known female of Esthemopsis and quite similar to Setabis lagus . The identity of Erycina pherephatte Godart, [1824] , and consequently the correct name to apply, will remain uncertain until a more in-depth examination is conducted.

Distribution. Most records come from the forests of the coastal plains of the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina, Brazil, with some specimens collected in the nearby interior highland forests of the same states. There is an additional record from Rio de Janeiro, but this record needs further confirmation since the specimen belongs to the Gagarin ex-collection, in which there is frequent mislabeling of specimens.

Type Material. The lectotype of Lepricornis teras Stichel, 1910 , here designated, has the following labels: /St. Cather.[Santa Catarina] Schdmtl.[Scheidemantel]/ Type / Coll. Staudinger/ teras Stich. / ( ZHMN) and it will be added the followings labels: / LECTOTYPUS / LECTOTYPUS Lepricornis teras Stichel, 1910 Dolibaina, Dias, Mielke & Casagrande det. 2013/. The characteristic lectotype labels will be sent to the curator of the collection.

Examined material. (20 males and 15 females) BRAZIL— Rio de Janeiro: Resende —Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, Maromba, 1100m, 21- I-1936, 1 male, Gagarin leg., DZ 21.080 ( DZUP). Paraná: Antonina —Rio Pequeno, 10m, 26- IV-2003, 3 females, Mielke leg., OM 60.234, OM 60.538 and OM 60.545(OM); Balsa Nova — São Luis do Purunã, 1000m, 8- IV-2006, 1 female, Beltrami & Selusniaki leg., DZ 20.982 ( DZUP); Guaratuba — Limeira, 15- IV- 2000, 10 m, 1 male and 1 female, Mielke leg., OM 51.734 and OM 51.741 (OM); Lapa —Fazenda Uru, 1- IV-2006, 1 female, O. Mielke leg., DZ 23.269 ( DZUP); Pontal do Paraná —Atami, 31- III-1991, 1 female, Mielke leg., OM 26.913 (OM), 28- XII-1992, 1 male, Mielke leg., OM 35.993 (OM); Ponta Grossa —Piriquitos, 8- III-1992, 1 male, Mielke leg., OM 28.845 (OM); Tijucas do Sul —Vossoroca, 850m, 4- II-1989, 1 female, Mielke leg., OM 21.937 (OM). Santa Catarina: Joinville, 10-200m, 9- VI-1973, 1 female, Miers, leg., DZ 23.319 ( DZUP), 19- XI-1979, 1 female, Miers leg., DZ 23.309 ( DZUP), 10- XI-1980, 1 female, R. Aronheim leg. ( MGCL),, 6- VI- 1982, 1 male, Miers leg., DZ 20.989* ( DZUP), 30- VIII-1982, 1 male, O. Mielke leg., DZ 23.289 ( DZUP), 16-IX- 1982, Miers leg., DZ 23.259 ( DZUP), 16- IV-1988, 1 male and 1 female, Mielke leg., OM 17.259 and OM 17.260 (OM), 22- IV-1988, 9 males and 1 female, O.-C. Mielke leg., OM 61.884, OM 61.849, OM 61.912, OM 61.898, OM 61.856, OM 61.905, OM 61.919, OM 61.870, OM 61.877 and OM 61.828 (OM); no date, 1 male, Miers leg., OM 67.420 (OM); São Bento do Sul —Rio Natal, 250m, V-1987, 1 male, Rank leg., OM 61.842 (OM), Rio Vermelho, 850m, 25- III-1993, 1 female, Rank leg., OM 35.228 (OM), 10- III-1999, 1 male and 1 female, Rank leg., OM 50.322 and OM 50.315 (OM).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 18. Male and females specimens of species of the genus Esthemopsis C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865, dorsal and ventral. 1 – 4. E. pherephatte. 1 – 2. Male from Catemaco, Veracruz, México (MGCL), 3 – 4. Female from Turrialba, Costa Rica (MGCL). 5 – 8. E. teras stat. rev.. 5 – 6. Male from Joinville, Santa Catarina (OM 61.884), 7 – 8. Female from Antonina, Paraná (OM 60.545). 9 – 12. E. sateri sp. nov.. 9 – 10. Male Holotype from Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro (OM 5.272), 11 – 12. Female Allotype from Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro (DZ 23.229). 13 – 16. E. pallida stat. nov.. 13 – 14. Male from São Francisco, Minas Gerais (DZ 23.299), 15 – 16. Female from Corinto, Minas Gerais (DZ 26.413). 17 – 18. E. diamantina sp. nov.. Male Holotype from Lençóis, Bahia (OM 47.768). Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURES 19 – 24. Male head of species of Esthemopsis C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865, dorsal, frontal and lateral. 19 – 21. E. teras stat. rev.. 22 – 24. E. sateri sp. nov.. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 29 – 32. Wings of males of species of Esthemopsis C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865, indicating the subapical spot (forewing) and fringe (hindwing). 29. E. teras stat. rev.. 30. E. sateri sp. nov.. 31. E. pallida stat. nov.. 32. E. diamantina sp. nov.. Scale bar = 0.5 cm.

FIGURES 33 – 37. Male genitalia of species of Esthemopsis C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865, lateral. 33. E. pherephatte. 34. E. teras stat. rev.. 35. E. sateri sp. nov.. 36. E. pallida stat. nov.. 37. E. diamantina sp. nov.. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 38 – 41. Female genitalia of species of Esthemopsis C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865, ventral. 38. E. pherephatte. 39. E. teras stat. rev.. 40. E. sateri sp. nov.. 41. E. pallida stat. nov.. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.