Sodalia petiti Gaviria-Ortiz, Dolibaina & A. Warren, 2020

Gaviria-Ortiz, Fabian Guillermo, Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Carneiro, Eduardo, Warren, Andrew D., Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik & Casagrande, Mirna Martins, 2020, A review of the Neotropical skipper genus Sodalia Evans, 1955 (Lepidoptera Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae) with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 4877 (1), pp. 102-124 : 115-118

Sodalia petiti Gaviria-Ortiz, Dolibaina & A. Warren , sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9C4CBA37-379D-411F-A2B4-7EDD7548B538

Figs 13–16 , 22 , 27 , 32 , 37 , 42 , 45

Diagnosis. Sodalia petiti sp. nov. is differentiated from other species in the genus by the following characters: green head, patagia and tegula; DFW and DHW speckled with yellow scales mostly in the marginal areas; male DFW with a very reduced brand; male genitalia with a narrower ampulla and longer aedeagus (relative to valva’s length); female genitalia with the lamella antevaginalis bearing two long lateral projections and the ductus bursae with a long, sclerotized ventral plate.

Description. Head: Mostly brown mixed with yellow and green scales, transfrontal suture and area around posterior chaetosema mostly green; frons with two rounded areas of short, iridescent bluish-green scales. Labial palpus mostly dark brown mixed with yellow and green scales; first segment short; second segment three times longer than first; third segment 1/3 length of second segment, slender, and projected beyond the clothing of the second segment. Antenna brown, ventrally yellow at base of segments; club brown, with a yellow ring at base: apiculus as long as club, ventrally with a yellow line; nudum of 13–14 segments, dark brown, restricted to apiculus. Female as in male.

Thorax: Brown with green dorsally, brown with yellow ventrally. Patagia and tegula green. Legs brown, ventrally yellowish. Female as in male.

Wings: Forewing length 10–11 mm, apex obtuse, outer margin convex. DFW and DHW dark brown, speckled with yellow scales along margins; DFW with two brands over and under CuA 2, covered by tiny brown scales; the former narrow, slightly longer than the latter, bordering CuA, the latter narrower than former, bordering CuA 2. VFW dark brown, fainter below CuA 2, speckled with yellow scales along apex and outer margin; VHW as VFW but with yellow scales along the wing, more concentrated on outer margin. Fringe of both wings brown, paler than ground color. Female as in male except in the absence of DFW brand.

Abdomen: Dorsally dark brown with sparse, long, yellow scales; ventrally as dorsally, last segments lighter, with a central dark brown line at middle. Female as in male.

Male genitalia: Tegumen two times wider than long in dorsal view, proximal margin with a deep indentation, median posterior projection very short. Fenestra triangular, narrowed. Saccus about two times longer than tegumen. Uncus more than twice as long as tegumen; base with distal margin straight and a short indentation at middle; arms about same thickness laterally and dorsally with a small lateral spine at tip. Gnathos arms almost reaching distal margin of uncus. Valva with ampulla 1/3 width of valva, broadly disjointed from harpe, narrowing distally below dorsal margin of costa, tip curved inward; harpe shorter than ampulla, bifid, ventral portion wider than ampulla, dorsal portion narrower, bifid and L-shaped, exceeding dorsal margin of ampulla. Fultura inferior short, wide, anterior and ventral projections very short. Aedeagus longer than in other members of the genus, nearly straight in dorsal and slightly concave in lateral view; distal opening not extending to manica insertion; aedeagus tip with smooth lateral margins; cornuti as several short, thin spines.

Female genitalia: Sterigma broad, wider than long. Lamella antevaginalis developed as two long, divergent distal projections, each bearing a spine on inner margin, near base. Lamella postvaginalis about 1.5 wider than long, with a broad median indentation and two rounded, lateral projections. Ostium bursae narrower than in the remaining species, placed at base of sterigma. Bursa copulatrix about 10 times longer than lamella postvaginalis; ductus bursae narrow, about 2/5 length of bursa copulatrix, mostly membranous except with a sclerotized ring about 2/3 length of ductus; corpus bursae completely membranous, narrow, last 1/3 ovoid. Papila analis rectangular, 2/3 as wide as long, with a short, rounded dorsal projection near distal margin; apophysis posterior thin, slightly longer than papilla and curved upward after base.

Etymology. This species is named for Jean-Claude Petit in honor of his initiative in cataloguing the butterfly fauna of Sangay National Park, Ecuador, and making the information available at the following website: http:// www.sangay.eu/en/.

Type material. Holotype male with the following labels: / HOLOTYPUS / 8-II-2011, Tinalândia , Alluriguin, Pichincha [recte Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Alluriquin], Ecuador 800m, Mielke & Casagrande leg. / Holotypus Sodalia petiti Gaviria-Ortiz, Dolibaina & A. Warren, 2020 /. OM 52.619 /. DZUP

Allotype female with the following labels: / ALLOTYPUS / La Palma , Alluriguin, Pichincha, Ecuador, 1000m, 20-VII-1981, Mielke & Casagrande [leg.] / Allotypus Sodalia petiti Gaviria-Ortiz, Dolibaina & A. Warren, 2020 / Gen. prep. E. Carneiro 2014 / DZ 31.487/. DZUP

Paratypes. ECUADOR: Pichincha — Rio Toachi , V .1969, 1 ♂ *, 1 ♀ *, VI .1969, 1 ♂ *, 1 ♀ *, XII.1968, 3 ♂ [1 ♂ *], all R . de Lafebre leg. ( MGCL). Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas — Alluriquín ( Rio Toachi ), 650 m, IV.1964, R . de Lafebre leg., 1 ♂ ( MGCL), 1 ♀ ( MGCL); ( La Palma ) , 1000 m, 20.VII.1981, Mielke & Casagrande leg., 10 ♂ ( DZ 31.557 *, DZ 31.391, DZ 35.305, DZ 35.315, DZ 27.352, DZ 35.325, DZ 35.335, DZ 35.345, DZ 35.365, DZ 35.355 ) 2 ♀ “( DZ 31.487 *, DZ 35.375*); (12 km E Hotel Tinalandia), 2 2. V.1985, O. Mielke leg. 1 ♂ ( OM 33.708 *); 750–850 m, 8. V.1988, 4 ♂ [3* ♂], 9. V.1988, 1 ♂ *, 10. V.1988, 2 ♂, 3 ♀, 12. V.1988, 1 ♂ *, 1 ♀ *, 13. V.1988, 1 ♂, 14. V.1988, 1 ♂, all G. & A. Austin leg. ( MGCL); 667–688 m, 18. V.1997, 12 ♂, 6 ♀, 20. V.1997, 1 ♂, 21. V.1997, 1 ♂, 22. V.1997, 1 ♂, 1♀, 24. V.1997, 4♂, 3♀, all A. D. Warren leg. ( ADW). Santo Domingo de los Colorados , 7.IV.1973, N. Venedictoff leg. 1 ♂ ( MGCL).”

Additional material. VENEZUELA: Distrito Federal — Hotel Hilton , 1.II.1977, J. T. McBurney leg., 1 ♂ ( MCGL) .

Distribution. This species is distributed at low to mid elevations of the western Andes of Ecuador and Venezuela ( Fig. 45 ).

Comments. Sodalia petiti is one of the most easily recognizable species of Sodalia due to its unique pattern of green scales covering parts of the head and most of the patagia and tegulae. This is the only species of the genus geographically restricted to habitats of low to mid elevations of the western Andes of Ecuador and in the Cordillera de la Costa in Venezuela. This wide disjunct distribution implies that S. petiti likely occurs in similar habitats in the western Colombian Andes.

Figures

FIGURE 45. Geographic distribution of Sodalia petiti sp. nov. and Sodalia splanga comb. nov.

FIGURES 1–18. Habitus of species of Sodalia, males (left) and females (right). 1–4. S. sodalis, 1–2. Male from Santo Antônio do Tauá, Pará, Brazil (DZ 35.537), 3–4. Female from Cacaulândia, Rôndonia, Brazil (OM 21.494). 5–8. S. argyrospila, 5–6. Male from Antonina, Paraná, Brazil (OM 14.223), 7–8. Female from Pontal do Paraná, Paraná, Brazil (OM 25.358). 9–12. S. coler, 9–10. Male from Pontal do Paraná, Paraná, Brazil (DZ 35.842), 11–12. Female from Seara, Santa Catarina, Brazil (DZ 35.696). 13–16. S. petiti sp. nov., 13–14. Male holotype from Alluriquin, Ecuador (OM 52.619). 15–16. Female allotype from Alluriguin, Ecuador (DZ 31.487). 17–18. S. spangla comb. nov., male from Oso Perdido, Amazonas, Peru (OM 83.945). Scale bar: 1 cm.

FIGURES 19–23. Head of species of Sodalia in antero-dorsal view. 19. S. sodalis, male from Santo Antônio do Tauá, Pará, Brazil (DZ 31.331). 20. S. argyrospila, male from Antonina, Paraná, Brazil (OM 14.223). 21. S. coler, male from Agrolândia, Santa Catarina, Brazil (DZ 35.352). 22. S. petiti sp. nov., male holotype. 23. S. spangla comb. nov., male from Oso Perdido, Amazonas, Peru (OM 83.945). Arrows indicate areas of frons with iridescent bluish-green. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 24–28. Head and thorax of species of Sodalia in dorsal view. 24. S. sodalis, male from Yavita, Amazonas, Venezuela (OM 39.809). 25. S. argyrospila, male from Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil (DZ 35.654). 26. S. coler, male from Pontal do Paraná, Paraná, Brazil (DZ 35.842). 27. S. petiti sp. nov., male holotype. 28. S. spangla comb. nov., male from Oso Perdido, Amazonas, Peru (OM 83.945). Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 29–33. Forewing brands of male Sodalia. 29. S. sodalis, from Yavita, Amazonas, Venezuela (OM 39.809). 30. S. argyrospila, from Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil (DZ 35.654). 31. S. coler, from Pontal do Paraná, Paraná, Brazil (DZ 35.842). 32. S. petiti sp. nov., paratype from Tinalândia, Alluriquin, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ecuador (OM 52.619). 33. S. spangla comb. nov., from Oso Perdido, Amazonas, Peru (OM 83.945). Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 36–38. Male genitalia of Sodalia. 36. S. coler, from Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (DZ 396). 37. S. petiti sp. nov., paratype from Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ecuador (OM 33.708). 38. S. spangla comb. nov., from Oso Perdido, Amazonas, Peru (OM 83.645). Structures and views as described in the legend of figures 34–35. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 39–42. Female genitalia of Sodalia. 39. S. sodalis, from Tingo Maria, Huánuco, Peru (DZ 31.675). 40. S. argyrospila, from Paranaguá, Paraná, Brazil (OM 15.992). 41. S. coler, from Seara, Santa Catarina, Brazil (DZ 35.306). 42. S. petiti sp. nov., paratype from La Palma, Alluriquin, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ecuador (DZ 35.375). Top to bottom: lateral view of tergum VIII, posterior apophysis, stergima, papilla analis and part of the ductus bursae; ventral view of the sterigma and bursa copulatrix. Scale bar: 1 mm.