Homoeocera gigantea Druce, 1884 In

Laguerre, Michel, 2010, Description of two new Homoeocera Felder from Guatemala and Mexico (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae, Arctiinae, Euchromiini), ZooKeys 33 (33), pp. 29-38 : 31-33

Homoeocera gigantea Druce, 1884 In : Druce (1881–1890): 54 pl. VIII Fig. 5.

Figs 2a, 2b , 3 a–f

Diagnosis. Generally speaking a robust and handsome species well characterized by clear (not yellowish) transparent wings with black borders and crimson red legs. Most similar to H. georginas ; see Diagnosis under that species.

Description. Head, collar, tegulae, thorax and antennae deep black. Abdomen above entirely black with bright blue intersegmental lines, difficult to see on dried specimens Forewing length 21–24 mm (n = 13). Forewings transparent and entirely bordered by a thin black line (around 0.3 mm) with a small indentation on vein CuA2. Base of the wings largely black. Black line at the end of the cell reaching the costa. Hindwings reduced, entirely transparent, with termen bordered with a thin black line. Border wider along anal angle and with a small indentation just above the anal angle. The immediate basal area black.

The underside is almost identical to the upperside, palpi are entirely red; hindwings with a milky white iridescence just inside the anal border; all legs are crimson red except the tarsi which are dark-brown. There is a white depression at the base of the ventral abdomen in males.

32 Michel Laguerre / ZooKeys 33: 29–38 (2010) Figure |. Homoeocera gigantea (left) and Homoeocera georginas sp. n. (right) at rest, the same night, on the collecting sheet at Fuentes Georginas, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (V. 2007).

Specimens examined. GUATEMALA: Quetzaltenango, Fuentes Georginas, 11 & 12.V.2007, 2460 m, 14° 45.008 N – 91° 28.820 W, M. Laguerre leg., 7 ♁, one has been dissected Gen. ML1558, two have been bar-coded, GenBank accession numbers GU332713 (BOLD no. ARCTB327-08 / MILA0986) and GU332714 (ARCTB351-08 /MILA1010). All M. Laguerre leg. Zacapa, S.E. La Union, 15-V- 2007, 1400 m, 14° 57.152 N' 89° 16.690' W, GenBank GU332715 , BOLD no. ARCTA774-07 / MILA0493, M. Laguerre leg, 1 ♁. Suchitepéquez, Atitlan Reserve, Refugio del Quetzal, I-2009, 1570 m, 14° 32.873' N 91° 11.610' W, J. Monzon leg., 1 ♁. San Marcos, Finca Esperanza, 1950 m, 30.V & 1.VI.2008, 14° 56' 03.6" N – 91° 51' 41.1" W, J. Touroult leg., 3 ♁. [all in MLC]. HONDURAS: Prov. Morazan, 24 km NE Tegucigalpa, La Tigra, 1000 m, VI.1995, Porion / Lachaume leg., 3 ♁, one dissection # Gen. ML1788 [XLC]. COSTA RICA: Cartago, Tapanti, X.1985, Gen. ML1678, 1 ♁. COSTA RICA, San Jose, Cerro La Muerte, Paraiso del Quetzal, 2722 m, 14.IX.2009, 09° 38' 40.10" N – 83° 51' 01.09" W, D. Herbin leg., 3 ♁ [MLC].

Distribution and biology. As far as is known, H. gigantea is distributed from Guatemala to Costa Rica, generally at high altitude in very humid biotopes. It is not presently known from Nicaragua possibly because collecting at high altitude is difficult due to the topography of the country. The biology is unknown.

Remarks. Specimens from Guatemala and Honduras exhibit wider black wing borders compared to Costa Rican specimens, but the genitalia are similar. DNA barcode divergence between H. gigantea and H. georginas samples is approximately 3.8%.

Figures

Figure 2. a Homoeocera gigantea, from Costa Rica, Cartago,Tapanti, X.1985 b Homoeocera gigantea from Guatemala, Quetzaltenango, Fuentes Georginas, 2460 m, 9.V. 2007, M. Laguerre leg. c Homoeocera georginas. nov., from Guatemala, Quetzaltenango, Fuentes Georginas, 2460 m, 9.V.2007, M. Laguerre leg. d Homoeocera papalo. nov., from Mexico, Oaxaca, Concepcion Papalo, 2275 m, 10.VII.1997, G. Nogueira leg.

Figure 3. Homoeocera male genitalia with successively: ventral view, lateral view, penis in lateral view, all in natural positions for: a–c H. gigantea from Costa Rica d–f H. gigantea from Guatemala g–i H. georginas sp. n. from Guatemala j–l H. papalo sp. n. from Mexico. Scale bar = 1 mm.