Getta turrenti, Miller, 2009

Miller, James S, 2009, Generic Revision Of The Dioptinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Notodontidae) Part 2: Josiini, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2009 (321), pp. 675-1022 : 709-711

Getta turrenti , new species Figures 295 , 296 ; plate 26

DIAGNOSIS: Of the three blue-winged Getta species — baetifica , tica , and turrenti —the latter shows the greatest amount of purple (pl. 26); Getta baetifica is more greenish blue, whereas G. tica tends toward cobalt blue. Getta turrenti also shows distinctive features of its genitalia, and these provide the most reliable means for separating it from the others. The male vesica of G. turrenti (fig. 295C) is shorter and wider than in its close relatives. The cornuti at the base of the vesica are larger and more numerous, and the aedeagus itself is wider. At the base of the CB in females, all three species exhibit a small, folded appendix with a thickened membrane. In G. turrenti (fig. 295D) this appendix is much larger than in either G. baetifica or G. tica .

DESCRIPTION: Male. FW length 5 20.5– 21.0 mm. Head: Labial palpus long, porrect, curving slightly upward to immediately above clypeus; Lp1 moderately long, curving upward, scales light yellow to lemon yellow, with a loose fringe below, dorsum blue black; Lp2 slightly longer than Lp1, bluish brown to blue-black; Lp3 short, bullet shaped, blue-black; scales of front dark brown with a steely blue iridescence; frontal scales long, pointing down from antennal bases, then horizontally to meet at midline to form a conical frontal tuft; occiput brown; eye large and round, sparsely covered with microscopic setae; vertex brown, scales long, pointing anteriorly; antenna bipectinate, rami long, tightly spaced; scape and dorsum of antennal shaft covered with glossy, purplish-brown scales.

Thorax: Area of prothorax below proboscis yellow; legs closely covered with gray-brown scales with a blue iridescence; pleuron covered with long hairlike and shorter scales, all with a blue iridescence; patagium, tegula, and dorsum covered with long, dark brown to dark gray-brown scales, these with a turquoise blue iridescence; distal scales of tegula long.

Forewing: (Dorsal) Ground color blackish gray; wing veins slightly lighter gray; a patch of iridescent, violet-blue scales in basal fourth, extending from cubitus anteriorly to anal margin posteriorly; an orange-yellow to lemon-yellow transverse band extending from midpoint of leading edge, behind costa, to slightly short of tornus; transverse band crossing fork of M 1 and Rs 1 –Rs 4, as well as fork of M 3 and CuA 1, ending past apex of 1A+2A. (Ventral) Ground color gray-brown to charcoal gray; no iridescent area; a large, ovoid androconial organ near base, covered with elongate, deciduous, yellowish-beige scales; area surrounding androconial patch, extending from DC to immediately below 1A+2A, scaleless, with a cellophane-like appearance.

Hind wing: (Dorsal) Ground color gray-brown to dark charcoal gray; basal half covered with iridescent, violet-blue scales; iridescent area extending from cubitus anteriorly to anal margin posteriorly; a large, ovoid androconial organ at base near anterior margin, covered with elongate, yellowish-beige scales; organ straddling Sc+R, its anterior margin falling short of wing’s leading edge, its posterior margin passing through DC to touch cubitus; a wide area surrounding androconial organ scaleless, its surface glistening light gray. (Ventral) Ground color gray-brown to charcoal gray; posterior half of wing, from CuA 2 to anal margin, with a faint, bluish iridescence.

Abdomen: Dorsum uniformly brownish gray, with a turquoise iridescence; venter gray, with a turquoise iridescence.

Terminalia (fig. 295A–C, 295E): Tg8 narrower than Tg7, wider than St8, anterior margin with a wide, shallow mesal excavation, posterior margin with an indistinct, wide, U-shaped mesal excavation; St8 narrower posteriorly, lateral margins slightly constricted in distal third; anterior margin of St8 with an extremely long, thin mesal apodeme, almost as long as rest of sternum, posterior margin with a deep, U-shaped mesal excavation; socii/uncus complex with a fairly wide attachment to tegumen; uncus bent downward near base, distal portion long, thin, bent downward at apex, with a large, laterally compressed dorsal crest along midline near base; socii almost as long as uncus, each with a dorsal crest (more acute dorsally than one on uncus) near base, apices acute; tegumen not as tall as vinculum, narrow at attachment of valva below, abruptly wider above, dorsal margin transverse; vinculum narrow, tall; ventral margin of genitalia transverse; valva bases broadly sclerotized, each with a knob on inner surface ventrally; BO large, outer margin broadly rounded; longitudinal sclerite of BO sinuate, with a large, sclerotized, toothlike ridge at dorsum; base of aedeagus angulate (not rounded), apex gradually narrow; vesica relatively short, wider than aedeagus, forming a broad, club shaped appendix distally; vesica with a transverse sclerite at base near apex of aedeagus, a loose group of large, spinelike cornuti on right side near base, and large group of straight, robust, spinelike cornuti on dorsal surface at apex.

Female (fig. 26). FW length 5 21.0– 23.0 mm. Head, thorax, and wings similar to male, except: pleuron with a wide, longitudinal light yellow band from behind eye to mesepimeron; antenna ciliate, shaft widening from base, then gradually tapered; wings longer, broader, and more rounded than in male; androconial organs absent; blue iridescence of FW base and HW more extensive.

Terminalia (pl. 295D): Tg7 extremely large and wide, slightly narrower at posterior margin, margins simple; St7 equal in length to Tg7, narrower, lateral margins constricted in distal third, posterior third narrowing slightly; CB relatively narrow; CB with a relatively wide, short dorsal sclerite, broadening at its apex, internal surface of sclerite coarsely dentate; CB with a large, coriaceous, ventral sclerite near base, its lateral margins broadly rounded; junction between CB and DB forming a large, melanized, laterally compressed appendix on left side, appendix with an upright fold on its anterior surface; DS attached at junction of DB and CB on right side; DB wide; posterior margin of PA lobate near dorsum; other features as in genus description.

ETYMOLOGY: This species is named in honor of Rafael Turrent, who kindly made his collection of Mexican Lepidoptera available to me for study. His material yielded many interesting Dioptinae , including most of the known examples of Getta turrenti .

DISTRIBUTION: Getta turrenti is known from the Caribbean side of the Sierra Madre (fig. 296), in an area spanning roughly 1000 km. Its habitat extends from Orizaba Mexico, E-SE of Veracruz, south to Cayuga Guatemala. Getta turrenti has been captured at four Mexican sites—Orizaba and Oaxaca in the state of Veracruz, as well as Chajul and San Quintin. The two latter localities are in Chiapas near the Guatemala border, on the Río Lacantum. All of these specimens were collected at relatively low elevations; Chajul is at 150 meters altitude.

A female from Truxillo, Honduras (AMNH; F.C. Nicholas Collection), on the Caribbean coast, represents a fourth iridescent blue Getta species. Its FW stripe is unusually wide, its HW is strikingly purple, and its genitalia (JSM-1741) are distinctive. Known from only a single specimen, I refrain from describing this taxon until additional material becomes available.

DISCUSSION: Getta turrenti can be readily distinguished from G. tica and G. baetifica : The head, thorax, and wing ground color of G. turrenti tend toward dark brown or blackish brown rather than black; the iridescent FW and HW areas are slightly more violet colored, especially at their peripheries; the male antennal pectinations are noticeably longer in G. turrenti than in either G. tica or G. baetifica . When the genitalia of these three species are compared, obvious differences set G. turrenti apart.

In all likelihood, caterpillars of G. turrenti feed on whatever Astrophea species are endemic to that region of Central America.

It will be important to search along streams and other likely Astrophea habitats, in hopes of discovering the life history of this species.

HOLOTYPE: Female (pl. 26). MEXICO: Chiapas: San Quintin , 16.4 ° N, 91.35 ° W, 14– 18 Oct 1977, leg. Peter Hubbell. The type is deposited at the LACM.

PARATYPES: MEXICO: Chiapas: 13, Chajul, Río Lacantum , May 1981, leg. R. Turrent ( LACM; genitalia slide no. JSM-565 ) ; 233, Chajul, Río Lacantum , leg. R. Turrent ( ARTC) ; 2♀♀, San Quintin , 16.4 ° N, 91.35 ° W, 14–18 Oct 1977, leg. Peter Hubbell ( LACM; genitalia slide no. JSM-1733 ) . Veracruz: 1♀, Tuxpango , 5 km S Orizaba, Aug 1938, leg. Mario del Toro ( ARTC) ; 233, Oaxaca, Río Sarabía , S Tuxtepec, leg. R. Turrent ( ARTC) .

OTHER SPECIMENS EXAMINED: GUATE- MALA: 13, Cayuga, May, Schaus & Barnes Collection (USNM; genitalia slide no. JSM-569).

DISSECTED: 233, 1♀.

Figures

Fig. 295. Genitalia of Getta turrenti, sp. nov. (paratype 3 JSM-569, paratype ♀ JSM-1733). A, 3 genitalia; B, 3 Tg8; C, aedeagus; D, ♀ genitalia; E, 3 St8, ventral view.

Fig. 296. Mexico and northern Central America, showing the known distribution of Getta turrenti, sp. nov.