Telchin licus microsticta ( Rothschild, 1919 )

García-Díaz, José De Jesús, Espinoza-Sanabria, Bernardo A., Worthy, Robert, González, Jorge M., Janzen, Daniel H. & Hallwachs, Winnie, 2024, Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Costa Rica, Zootaxa 5481 (2), pp. 151-202 : 163-164

7. Telchin licus microsticta ( Rothschild, 1919)

( Figs. 3C, 3D , 11D, 11E , 13D )

Castnia albomaculata microsticta Rothschild, 1919 ; Rothschild, 1919. Novit. Zool. 26(1), p. 9.

Leucocastnia albomaculata microsticta ; Miller, 1995, in Heppner. Castnioidea: Castniidae : Castniinae , Checklist part 2, Atlas Neo. Lep., p. 135.

Telchin licus microsticta ; Lamas, 1995. Revta. Per. Ent. 37, p. 81.

General comments. This is the northernmost subspecies of Telchin licus and was described by Rothschild (1919) (as Castnia albomaculata microsticta ) based on specimens from San Ramón, Río Wanks in Nicaragua, and Esperanza in Costa Rica. This taxon had been previously cited by Druce (1883) (as Castnia licus ) from Costa Rica, and also from Chontales, in Nicaragua.

Telchin licus is a species with a highly adaptive alimentary plasticity since there are records of its larvae feeding on Heliconiaceae , Musaceae , and Poaceae , becoming a pest of crops in at least two of those families ( Ballou 1914; Lima 1945; Aya et al. 2022). In Costa Rica, some authors have cited Telchin licus as a sugarcane pest in several areas of the country; however, they have been incorrectly identified, and the taxa collected were either T. a futilis or T. a. drucei ( LAICA 2017; García-Díaz 2022a).

Sexual dimorphism in Telchin licus microsticta is as evident as in most Telchin species since males possess a faint subapical spot band on the dorsal forewing, but females have this spot band sharply defined, as well as having rounded forewings apically.

Ecology and behavior. Little is known about the ecology and behavior of T. l. microsticta . However, many authors have indicated that the host plants of T. licus correspond to species in the genera Musa ( Musaceae ), Saccharum ( Poaceae ), and Heliconia ( Heliconiaceae ) ( Ballou 1914; Lima 1945; Maes 1999, 2004; Aya et al. 2022), the specific host for this subspecies is unknown. Adults are diurnal and fly on sunny or cloudy days; males are territorial and patrol much of the day along trails, open gaps, roads, or bodies of water in search of females with which to mate; after several minutes of flight, the males perch for a short time on branches, stems or leaves of trees or shrubs to thermoregulate in a stegopterous position, and later continue patrolling; males are more active on sunny days with high temperatures, while on cloudy days or when the temperature drops, they can be seen mostly perching and barely flying (Colin Allen & Cynthia Potter , pers. comm.).

Distribution and biogeography. It has been recorded from Honduras to Costa Rica (Druce 1883; Rothschild 1919; Maes 1999, 2004; Miller et al. 2012; Van den Berghe et al. 2020).According to the information at our disposal, T. l. microsticta seems to be distributed on the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica within localities that according to Morrone et al. (2022), belong to the Guatuso-Talamanca province of the Pacific dominion in the Brazilian subregion. It has been collected and sighted in the following Costa Rican provinces and cantons: Alajuela: Guatuso, San Carlos, San Ramón; Guanacaste: La Cruz; Heredia: Sarapiquí; Limón: Limón, Matina, Pococí; San José: Vázquez de Coronado.

Figures

FIGURE 3. A–B: Telchin evalthe tica; A: ♂, San José, P. B. Carrillo, La Montura, 1050m, 23mayo 1981, I. A. Chacón, INBIOCRI001055993, MNCR-A1055993 (MNCR); B: ♀, Alajuela, Reserva de San Ramón, Río San Lorencito, 23mayo1986, I. A. Chacón, INBIOCRI001056104, MNCR-A1056104 (MNCR); C–D: Telchin licus microsticta; C: ♂, San José, P. N. Braulio Carrillo, Est. Carrillo, 730m, 20mayo85, Abelardo Chacón, INBIOCRI001055981, MNCR-A1055981 (MNCR); D: ♀, Casacode, 7 abril 97, I. Chacón (MNCR). Scale bar = 2cm.

FIGURE 11. A–C: Telchin evalthe tica; A: ♂, Pococí, Limón, 03-IV-2008 (photo: Steven Daniel); B: ♂, Coto Brus, Puntarenas, 27-V-2022 (photo: Randall Jiménez); C: ♀, Golfito, Puntarenas, 12-VII-2008 (photo: Gernot Kunz); D–E: Telchin licus microsticta; D: ♀, Alajuela, San Ramón, 22-IV-2020 (photo: Gustavo Orozco); E: ♂, San Carlos, Alajuela, 29-V-2023 (photo: Colin Allen); F–G: Telchin atymnius drucei; F: ♂, Golfito, Puntarenas, 18-I-2022 (photo: Heiner Ziegler); G: ♀, Puriscal, San José, 31-VIII-2022 (photo: Kirby Wolfe); H–I: Telchin atymnius futilis; H: ♂, Pococí, Limón, 16-I-2020 (photo: Alexandre Terrigeol); I: ♀, Sarapiquí, Heredia, 26-II-2022 (photo: Kyle Horner).

FIGURE 13. Distribution maps of the genus Telchin in Costa Rica. A: T. atymnius futilis; B: T. atymnius drucei; C: T. evalthe tica; D: T. licus microsticta.