Athis inca inca Walker, 1854

Berghe, Eric Den, 2020, Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) from Honduras and Nicaragua, Central America, Zootaxa 4895 (2), pp. 272-284 : 278-279

Athis inca inca Walker, 1854

( Fig. 1H )

Castnia inca Walker, 1854:24-25 [ Mexico, “ Venezuela,” Honduras Lectotype].

Castnia inca Herrich-Schäffer, 1855: 56 , figs. 488-489 [ Mexico] [ Lamas (1995) considers this taxon to be pre.occupied by inca Walker and synonymous with ssp. orizabensis ].

Castnia inca Herrich-Schäffer ; Westwood, 1877:174.

Castnia clitarcha Westwood, 1877: 176 , lam. 31, fig. 1 (in part, Ƌ): 176, lam. 31, fig. 1 [¿? Panama, ¿? Nicaragua].

Castnia inca Walker, Butler, 1877 : Plt. M1, fig. 151.

Castnia inca Walker, Preiss, 1899 , Plt. II, fig. 5.

Castnia inca Herrich-Schäffer ; Druce, 1883: 26.

Castnia clitarcha Westwood (machoƋ); Druce, 1883:26 [Westwood’s Ƌ C. clitarcha may be from Nicaragua since the ♀ is from Panama, but Druce does not include Nicaragua in the range of C. inca , mentioning only Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Venezuela].

Castnia inca hondurana Strand, 1913: 11 [ Honduras].

Aciloa inca Walker ; Houlbert, 1918:438.

Castnia inca inca Walker ; Miller 1972:4-5, figs. 5, 7, 18-21, 28-31 [Miller considers Westwood’s Ƌ clitarcha Westwood to be a synonym of Castnia inca , but there is no specific locality, hence the type locality of Nicaragua; Walker does not clearly define one or the other species.

Athis inca (WALKER) ; Fletcher & Nye, 1982:2 [the designated Lectotype is from Honduras] .

Athis inca (Walker) , Miller, 1995: 134.

Athis inca inca (Walker) ; Lamas, 1995:76.

Athis inca inca (Walker) [ Honduras], Lamas, 1995: 76.

Athis inca inca (Walker) , Miller et al., 2012:10.

Athis inca (Walker) ; González y Hernández-Baz, 2012:148 [mention that Athis inca y Athis clitarcha overlap in Honduras and Guatemala].

Athis inca (Walker) ; Salazar et al., 2013: 9 [according to Lamas (1995) the Holotype is from Honduras].

This is the most common ssp. in the Athis inca complex ( Miller 1972). It can be found from Mexico to Panama, and it is a highly variable ssp. ( Miller 1972; González et al. 2008). It is a day-flying moth with the highest peak of activity around noon. Specimens had been collected after being attracted to fermented plantain bait (ripe plantain, sugar, and beer) ( González et al. 2008). It was described by Walker (1854; as Castnia inca ) from material collected in “ Mexico, Venezuela, and Honduras.” Even though it can be frequently found in Mexico, it appears to be rare in Honduras. Also, we have not been able to find another specimen from Venezuela. The only one we know from that country is Walker (1854) specimen in the NHMUK. Eventually, the type locality for Athis inca (Walker) was designated as “ Honduras ” ( Fletcher & Nye 1982). Houlbert (1918) mentions that he examined five specimens in the Charles Oberthür collection.

Material examined: 1 Ƌ, Type, 45, 123 [“from Mr. Dyson’s collection”] ( NHMUK); 1 Ƌ , Type, 88. Wittk., Castnia inca Wlk. ab. hondurana, Strand det., Inca H.S. ( MNHU) .

Figures

FIGURE 1: Giant butterfly-moths (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) from Honduras and Nicaragua. A. Ƌ, Telchin cacica procera (Boisduval, [1875]), Morazán, Honduras (UNAH, Honduras); B. Ƌ, Telchin atymnius drucei (Schaus, 1911), Honduras (Streck- er Collection, FMNH, Chicago, USA); C. ♀, Telchin atymnius futilis (Walker, 1856), Atlántida, Honduras (CURLA, Honduras); D. Ƌ, Telchin evalthe viryi (Boisduval, [1875]), Honduras (Strecker Collection, FMNH, Chicago, USA); E. Ƌ, Telchin diva diva (Butler, 1870), Carazo, Nicaragua (MEL, Nicaragua); F. Ƌ, Telchin licus microsticta (Rothschild, 1919), Atlántida, Honduras (CURLA); G. Ƌ, (Type), Athis inca inca Walker, 1854, Honduras (NHMUK, London); H. Ƌ, Athis clitarcha (Westwood, 1877), Atlántida, Honduras (CURLA); I. ♀, Prometheus zagraea salvina (Westwood, 1877), Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua (EVDB). Scale: 10 mm.