Ircila, HOULBERT, 1918

Moraes, Simeão De Souza & Duarte, Marcelo, 2014, Phylogeny of Neotropical Castniinae (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Castniidae): testing the hypothesis of the mimics as a monophyletic group and implications for the arrangement of the genera, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 170 (2), pp. 362-399 : 392

IRCILA HOULBERT, 1918 ( FIG. 35)

Type species

Castnia hecate Herrich-Schäffer, [1854]

Included species

Ircila hecate (Herrich-Schäffer, [1854])

Comments

This enigmatic species, restricted to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, has some idiosyncratic features, such as a heavily sclerotized plate dorsal to the anellus (transtila?), as well as the juxta and subscaphium heavily sclerotized, and the posterior arms of the gnathos fused together, enclosing the anal tube. Moreover, I. hecate shares some common features, such as the morphology of the gnathos, with the Telchin group, and plesiomorphic characters, such as the valva morphology, with Ceretes and Corybanthes . Concerning the forewing pattern, this genus has some patterns similar to G. decussata and the translucent subapical spots that are also present in Athis and Hista species , but these are homoplastic characters. The sister-group relationship with a suprageneric clade was considered in our decision to maintain this monotypic genus.