Eois pseudolivacea Doan, 2024

Doan, Lydia M., Miller, James S., Brown, John W., Forister, Matthew L. & Dyer, Lee A., 2024, Two new species of the hyperdiverse geometrid moth genus Eois (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae) from Ecuador, with descriptions of early stages, ZooKeys 1192, pp. 111-140 : 111

Eois pseudolivacea Doan sp. nov.

Figs 8-11

Type material.

Holotype ♂, Ecuador, Napo, Yanayacu Biological Station, 2163 m, 00°35'0.9"S, 077°53'0.4"W, Mar 2010, r.f. 46067, Earthwatch, slide 69575 (UNR). Paratypes (5♂, 6♀). Ecuador: Napo: Yanayacu Biological Station, 2066.8 m, 00°34'0.001"S, 77°52'.001"W, Jun 2013, r.f. 75714, 75718 (2♂), July 2013, r.f. 78585, 78550, 78563 (1♂, 2♀), Sept 2014, r.f. 86500 (1♀), Aug 2015, r.f. 88081 (1♂), Earthwatch (UNR). Ecuador: Napo: Yanayacu Biological Station, 2096.6 m, 00°35'7.02"S, 77°52'31.379"W, Oct 2013, r.f. 80578, 80648, 80696 (3♀), Earthwatch (UNR). [no further locality data] r.f. B1409 (1♂), Earthwatch (UNR).

Remarks and diagnosis.

Eois pseudolivacea is described from Ecuador, where it occurs in sympatry with several very similar congeners. Superficially, E. pseudolivacea is nearly indistinguishable from other members of the species complex (Figs 8 , 9 ). However, the male genitalia (Fig. 10 ) are easily recognized by the length of the lacina, which is nearly as long as the valva.

Description.

Male. Head: Essentially as described for species complex. Thorax: Essentially as described for the species complex, except forewing length 9.5 mm (n = 12); forewing ground color pale moss; antemedial line faint, ivory, uniform in width throughout; medial line faint, wavy, ivory; postmedial line prominent, well defined, wavy, ivory, perpendicularly angled toward costa beyond M3; region from postmedial line to termen with two narrow, wavy, ivory lines; discal spot well defined, round, red-brown; costal margin banded cream and dark red-brown; termen with narrow, dark red-brown line, concolorous with discal spot. Fringe pale yellow. Forewing underside ivory, suffused with faint reddish brown, with faint trace of dorsal pattern; discal spot round, orange-brown, faint to absent. Fringe pale yellow. Hindwing concolorous with forewing; antemedial line ivory; postmedial line wavy, cream, perpendicularly angled toward costa beyond CuA. Hindwing underside with pattern similar to upperside, with faint red-brown antemedial and postmedial lines, region from postmedial line to termen with two, wavy, red-brown lines; discal spot faint. Abdomen: Genitalia (Fig. 10 ) with lacina nearly as long as valva, somewhat parallel-sided; membrane surrounding phallobase bearing large dorsal field of short spines arranged in two longitudinal rows; vesica bilobed, each lobe with distal group of small spine-like cornuti.

Female. Head and Thorax: Essentially as described for male, but antenna slightly narrower, lacking rami. Abdomen: Genitalia (Fig. 11 ) with papillae anales narrow; ductus bursae narrow; corpus bursae oblong, with large, curved, spinelike signum located laterally on left side.

Distribution and biology.

This species is known only from Napo Province, Ecuador. It was reared from larvae discovered on Piper lanceifolium (n = 456) and P. baezanum (n = 49).

The eggs, larvae, and pupae of E. pseudolivacea have all the general characteristics described above for Eois with no modifications (Figs 1-4 ). First and second instars are similarly colored, with a clear beige head capsule, yellowish green thorax, abdomen, pinacula, and setae. The thoracic legs and prolegs are clear. Instars 3-5 have this same color pattern but also have paired broad cream patches subdorsally, extending across all segments from T2 to A8; A9 and A10 are usually pale cream colored, pinacula are chalky white with brown setae, and mandibles are dark brown. A thin white lateral stripe connects all spiracles. Pupae are usually pressed along major leaf veins on the underside of the leaf.

Etymology.

The species name refers to the superficial similarity of this species to E. olivacea .

Figures

Figures 8 - 11. Eois pseudolivacea adult and genitalia 8 holotype upperside (UNR) 9 holotype underside (UNR) 10 male genitalia, slide 69575 (UNR); arrow indicates elongate lacina 11 female genitalia, slide 86478 (UNR).

Figures 1 - 4. Early stages of Eois pseudolivacea from Ecuador 1 egg 2 second instar larva 3 fifth instar larva 4 pupa.