Syngamia florella (Stoll, 1781)

Bernard Landry, 2016, Taxonomic revision of the Spilomelinae (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae s. l.) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, Revue suisse de Zoologie 123 (2), pp. 315-399 : 389-391

Syngamia florella (Stoll, 1781)

Figs 64 , 132 , 178

Tinea florella Stoll in Cramer & Stoll, 1781: 114 , pl. 348 fig. L.

Syngamia florella (Stoll) : Peck et al. 1998: 227. ‒ Causton et al., 2006: 141. ‒ Roque-Albelo & Landry, 2015.

Material examined: 9 ♂, 11 ♀, 46 of undetermined sex from the Galápagos Islands: – Floreana: Charles [no precise locality]; Punta Cormoran; close to Loberia, GPS: elev[ation]. 6 m, S 01° 17.002’, W 90° 29.460’. – Genovesa: Bahía Darwin. – Isabela: Alcedo, lado NE, low arid zone bosq[ue]. palo santo; V[olcan]. Darwin, 300 m elev.; 1 km W P[uer]to Villamil; 2 km Puerto Villamil; 8.5 km N Pto Villamil; ± 15 km N Pto Villamil; Sierra Negra, 1000 m alt[itude]. – San Cristóbal: Chatham [no precise locality]; 1 km S El Progreso; El Junco, east side, GPS: 654 m elev., S 00° 53.734’, W 89° 28.727’; pampa zone. – Santa Cruz: Agr[iculture]. Zone; Tortuga Res[erve]. W S[an]ta Rosa; Horneman Farm, 220 m elev.; agriculture zone, near (NNW) Bella Vista, GPS: 223 m elev., S 00° 41.297’, W 90° 19.670’; NNW Bella Vista, GPS: 225 m elev., S 00° 41.293’, W 90° 19.665’; Finca Vilema, 2 km W Bella Vista; 2 km W Bella Vista; Los Gemelos; Media Luna, pampa zone. – Santiago: Bahía Espumilla ; La Bomba, 6 m elev., S 00° 11.151’, W 90° 42.052’; 200 m elev.; Aguacate [camp], 520 m elev.; Central [camp], 700 m; Jaboncillo [camp], ± 850 m elev. Deposited in BMNH, CAS, CDRS, CNC, MCZ, and MHNG.

Diagnosis: The diminutive Syngamia florella (Stoll) is one of the most strikingly patterned and coloured species of Spilomelinae in the Galápagos ( Fig. 64 ). The broad orange yellow markings of the thorax and both wings over a dark brown ground colour as well as the bright orange abdomen with patches of shining blue scales are not found in any other species. The wingspan is between 15 and 19 mm.

Biology: The known host plants of this species are in the Rubiaceae genera Borreria and Spermacoce ( Heppner, 2003; Robinson et al., 2014). In the Galápagos specimens have been collected from the littoral zone to higher zones up to about 1000 m, in cultivated as well as pristine habitats, and from February until June and October.

Distribution: Described from Surinam this species is widespread in the Western Hemisphere as attest the countries recorded from the labels of specimens in the BMNH: USA, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, St Vincent, Dominica, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Grenada, Tobago, Trinidad, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Venezuela, British Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Argentina. In addition, the MHNG has specimens from Martinique and French Guiana. Patterson et al. (2015) report it from several US States of the south east, with most records from Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Already in 1854, Guenée wrote that this species was very common in all of Meridional America. In the Galápagos specimens were collected on several islands as noted above in the Material examined. In addition, a CDRS specimen labelled simply ‘92’ refers to notes in a notebook in the CDRS adding the localities of Cerro Azul on Isabela and Media Luna on Santa Cruz.

Remarks: The original description was checked to identify the Galapagos specimens, but there is no real description, rather an illustration that is not very convincing. Stoll (1781) mentioned that he was told that this species was found in Surinam on many different sorts of flowers and in great abundance. My Galápagos specimens match the specimens identified as this species in the BMNH.

Figures

Figs 57 - 64. Galápagos specimens of Spilomelinae, size not to scale. (57, 58) Samea inconspicuella. (57) ♂ holotype, CNC. (58) ♀ paratype, Santiago, close to Caseta, 686 m, 6. iii. 2005, MHNG. (59, 60) Sisyracera inabsconsalis. (59) ♀, Santa Cruz, NNW Bella Vista, 225 m, 18. ii. 2005, MHNG. (60) ♂, Rábida, tourist trail, 3. iv. 1992, MHNG. (61, 62) Sisyracera jacquelinae. (61) ♀ holotype, MHNG. (62) ♂ paratype, Isabela, Sierra Negra, Corazon Verde, xi-xii. 1974, BMNH ©, the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London. (63) Spoladea recurvalis ♂, Santa Cruz, E. C. C. D., 4. iii. 1992, MHNG. (64) Syngamia florella ♀, Santa Cruz, agriculture zone, near (NNW) Bella Vista, 223 m, 7. iv. 2004, MHNG.

Figs 131 - 133. Male genitalia of Neotropical Spilomelinae, a and b from same slides, but not to scale, (a) showing the genitalia without phallus and (b), the phallus. (131) Synclera jarbusalis: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8985, Brazil. (132) Syngamia florella: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8987, Galápagos, Santa Cruz. (133) Terastia meticulosalis: slide MHNG-ENTO- 9032, Galápagos, Santa Cruz.

Figs 178 - 183. Female genitalia of Neotropical Spilomelinae, not to scale. (178) Syngamia florella: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8988, Galápagos, Santiago. (179) Terastia meticulosalis: slide CNC PYR 364, Galápagos, Santa Cruz. (180) Udea galapagensis paratype: slide BL 1231. (181) Udea sideralis paratype: slide MHNG-ENTO- 8965. (182) Diaphania costata lectotype, slide BL 1809 (ZMUC). (183) Sisyracera contortilinealis holotype: slide BL 1807, BMNH ©, the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London.