Loxiorhiza Warren, 1904

(Figs 3, 7, 11, 14, 16)

Loxiorhiza Warren, 1904 . Novitates Zoologicae, 11 (1): 494; species included: Siculodes cervinalis Pagenstecher, 1892 .— Dalla Torre, 1914. Lepidopterorum Catalogus 20: 37.— Gaede, 1936, in Seitz. Die Gross -Schmetterlinge des Amerikanischen Faunengebietes. Die amerikanischen Spinner und Schwärmer 6: 1204, fig. 180h (d).— Whalley, 1964. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (13) 7 (74): 122.— Whalley & Heppner, 1995, Thyridoidea, in Becker et al. Checklist: Part 2, Hyblaeoidea–Pyraloidea–Tortricoidea, in Heppner (ed.). Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera 3: 32.

Type species: Siculodes cervinalis Pagenstecher, 1892, by monotypy.

Taxonomic history. Warren’s (1904) description of the genus Loxiorhiza included Siculodes cervinalis . He also noted that Zeuzerodes Pagenstecher, 1892 is distinct from Loxiorhiza, justifying the description of the new genus.

Diagnosis. Loxiorhiza is distinguished from the remaining genera of Siculodini by: (i) wings with an ocher ground color with irregular dark gray spots, more abundant on the ventral face (Fig. 3); (ii) male with setae on the anal margin; (iii) saccus with setae; (iv) valva with editum; (v) fultura superior sclerotized with spines; (vi) vesica with cornuti; (vii) signum oval and (viii) papillae anales suboval.

Redescription. Forewing: length—males 18.6 mm (n = 13), females 18.6 mm (n = 11); male with slightly convex outer margin, female with anterior half slightly concave and posterior half straight, both sexes with diffuse dark gray line between R 5 –M 3 on both sides; retinaculum above Sc.

Hindwing: length—males 10.9 mm (n = 13), females 11.3 mm (n = 11); both sexes triangular, nearly half the size of the forewing; dark gray diffused line on both sides between M 1 –M 3; dorsal surface with darker distal half; male with a tuft of setae on anal margin close to the base; male with one and female with two bristles in the frenulum.

Male genitalia (Fig. 7): tegumen rectangular in dorsal view, with rounded posterior angles, posterior margin with slight medial indentation; saccus suboval in lateral view, with numerous long and thin setae in the distal portion; uncus triangular, base with small lateral lobes and with posterior tip curved ventrally, thin and short setae immediately posterior the base; gnathos thin, U-shaped, membranous in the basal portion, and projected ventrally; valva spatula-shaped, costa slightly concave, rounded apex and ventral margin straight, editum small with thin and long setae, sacculus rectangular and narrow; fultura inferior U-shaped, with rounded ends and short setae; fultura superior sclerotized, with two arms converging posteriorly, forming an inverted V-shape with numerous spines; aedeagus cylindrical and curved in lateral view and, in dorsal view, bilobed distally, with proximal opening for the ejaculatory ductus rounded and vesica with small cornuti.

Female genitalia (Fig. 11): tergum VIII rectangular in lateral view, lamella antevaginalis slightly sclerotized, ostium membranous; posterior apophyses longer than the anterior apophyses; bursa copulatrix with the beginning of the ductus bursae sclerotized and the corpus bursae four times smaller than the ductus, signum (Fig. 14) oval, with numerous sclerotized spines; papillae anales suboval, as long as tall, covered with thin and short setae.