Sertania jaibensis ( Callaghan & Soares, 2001 ) Freitas, 2017

Freitas, André V. L., 2017, Sertania gen. nov., a new genus of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) from the South American dry diagonal, Zootaxa 4312 (1), pp. 165-179 : 173

Sertania jaibensis ( Callaghan & Soares, 2001) , comb. nov., stat nov.

( Figs 5–8 , 23–24 , 28–30 )

Audre guttata jaibensis Callaghan & Soares, 2001 . Revta. bras. Zool. 18(3):758–760. Figs. 15-18 . Type locality: Jaíba - Mocambinho , Carrasco (490 m), Minas Gerais, Brazil. Holotype male: MNRJ (examined).

Diagnosis. Average forewing length: males 12–14 mm (n = 6), females 13.2–14.5 mm (n = 3). This taxon was originally described as a subspecies of S. guttata due to its similarities and allopatric distribution ( Callaghan & Soares 2001). However, more detailed evaluation of its morphology combined with the differences in the DNA barcode (3.91%, Table 2) indicate that the differences are more profound and that S. jaibensis should be raised to species status. The FW shape of Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat nov. differs from Sertania guttata comb. nov. in being relatively longer with a more pointed apex and the margin of both wing surfaces black instead of red; the male ventral HW post-medial area is nearly white in S. jaibensis and dark brown in S. guttata . The frons of S. jaibensis is dark brown with a small white spot in the middle; that of S. guttata is white with two parallel light brown vertical lines. In the male genitalia, valvae are slightly longer with tips turned up in S. guttata ( Fig. 22 ), while they are shorter and truncated with straight tips in S. jaibensis ( Fig. 24 ); the pedicel is straight and pointed in S. guttata , and more curved and separated in S. jaibensis . In the female genitalia, the ostium bursae is broader in S. guttata , and more constricted caudad in S. jaibensis .

Biology and distribution. The habitat of S. jaibensis is transition between cerrado and caatinga vegetation. The type locality between Jaíba and Mocambinho (490 m) in the Minas Gerais state presents a closed, tall-shrubby, xerophilous vegetation termed “Carrasco” with floristic elements of caatinga ( Callaghan & Soares 2001). Besides the proximity of the São Francisco River, S. jaibensis does not inhabit gallery forests, which also form part of the habitat. The other two known localities in Diamantina and Sempre Vivas National Park consist of unique highaltitude (900 to 1500m) rocky outcrop vegetation ( Fig. 36 ) locally known as “campos rupestres” typical of higher parts of the “Serra do Espinhaço” range (see Alves & Kolbek 2010). This species is absent from the Brazilian central Plateau to the south of this locality. Butterflies fly rapidly and close to the ground at mid-day, resting with open wings on leaf dorsal surfaces, in apparent contrast to the more sedentary behavior of S. guttata . As mentioned above, the species is known from only three localities in northern Minas Gerais.

Material examined. BRAZIL: Minas Gerais: Jaíba - Mocambinho, Carrasco (490 m), 2♂, 3♀, 9.iii.1997, A. Soares leg. (CJC), same locality, 2♂, 24.iv.1994, A. Soares leg. (CJC), Diamantina (1300 m), 1♂, 28.xi.1988, O.H.H. Mielke leg. ( DZUP) ; Parque Nacional das Sempre Vivas (1330 m), Buenópolis , 1♀, 06.v.2011, L.A. Kaminski leg., DNA-voucher NS0104 ( ZUEC) .

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 12. Sertania gen. nov. species in dorsal and ventral views, respectively. 1 – 4, Sertania guttata comb. nov., male (DNA-voucher BLU 882) (1 – 2) from Capilla del Monte, Cordoba, Argentina (ZUEC), and female (3 – 4) from La Rioja, Argentina (MACN); 5 – 8, Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat. nov., male holotype (5 – 6) from Jaíba, Minas Gerais, Brazil (MNRJ), and female (DNA-voucher NS 0104) (7 – 8) from Sempre Vivas National Park, Buenópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil (ZUEC); 9 – 12, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov., male (DNA-voucher BLU 889) (9 – 10) from Custódia, Pernambuco, Brazil (ZUEC), and female (11 – 12) from Catimbau National Park, Pernambuco, Brazil (Cemafauna-Univasf). Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURES 19 – 26. Male genitalia of Sertania gen. nov. species. 19 – 22, Sertania guttata comb. nov. from Punta de los Llanos, La Rioja, Argentina (ZUEC), lateral view (19), tegumen and uncus in dorsal view (20), tegumen and uncus in lateral view (21), valvae in lateral view (22). 23 – 24, Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat. nov. paratype from Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil (DZUP), tegumen and uncus in lateral view (23), valvae in lateral view (24). 25 – 26, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov. from Ibimirim, Pernambuco, Brazil (ZUEC), tegumen and uncus in lateral view (25), valvae in lateral view (26). Scale bars = 0.25 mm.

FIGURES 27 – 32. Female genitalia of Sertania gen. nov. species. 27, Sertania guttata comb. nov. from Pichinal, Salta, Argentina (CJC), ventral view. 28 – 30, Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat. nov. from Buenópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil (ZUEC), papilla analis (28), sterigma in ventral view (29), note the oval opening (arrow), signus (30). 31 – 32, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov. from Ibimirim, Pernambuco, Brazil (ZUEC), sterigma in ventral view (31), note the circular opening (arrow), signus (32). Scale bars = 0.5 mm (Fig. 27) and 0.1 mm (Figs 28 – 32).

FIGURES 13 – 18. Adult morphology of Sertania guttata comb. nov. from Punta de los Llanos, La Rioja, Argentina. 13 – 16 in lateral view. 13, male palpus; 14, male foreleg; 15, male middle leg; 16, female foreleg; 17, forewing venation; 18, hind wing venation. Scale bars = 0.5 and 1.8 mm.

FIGURES 34 – 37. Overview of Sertania gen. nov. habitats in South American ‘ dry diagonal’. 34 – 35, Sertania guttata comb. nov., monte vegetation (34) in Anillaco, La Rioja, and Chaco serrano (35) in Capilla del Monte, Cordoba, Argentina; 36, Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat. nov., rocky montane fields in Sempre Vivas National Park, Buenópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil; 37, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov., arboreal caatinga in Custódia, Pernambuco, Brazil. Photos (36) by CA Iserhard and (37) by DHA Melo.