Iza Walker, 1865

(Figs 2, 6, 10, 16)

Iza Walker, 1865 . Lepidopterous insects in the Collection of the British, 31 (70): 521; species included: Iza nubecula (Guenée, 1858), Iza botydana Walker, 1865, Iza ? terminalis Walker, 1865, Iza perlula (Guenée, 1858) .— Guenée, 1877. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, (5) 7: 301.—Druce, 1895, in Godman & Salvin. Biologia Centrali-Americana: zoology, botany and archaeology 2: 186; type species designation Siculodes nubecula Guenée, 1858 .— Whalley, 1964. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (13) 7 (74): 121.— 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 nubecula Guenée, 1858 by subsequent designation (Guenée 1877) (“Cette espèce deviendra par la suite le type d’un genre ( Iza Walk.) que je n’ai pas cru devoir adopter dans l’état imparfait de la science”). This fact was later confirmed by Druce (1895).

Taxonomic history. Iza was described to include the following species: I. nubecula, I. botydana, I.? terminalis and I. perlula, but without designation of the type species. Currently, the only species in the genus is the type species. Iza botydana was transferred by Whalley & Heppner (1995) to Pseudendromis Köhler, 1924 as I.? terminalis and I. perlula was transferred by Hampson (1897) to Rhodoneura Guenée, 1858 .

Diagnosis. Iza is distinguished from the remaining genera of Siculodini by: (i) wings dark brown ground color with irregular beige patches and bands dorsal and ventrally (Fig. 2); (ii) abdomen dark brown on the dorsal face and beige on the ventral face; (iii) valva triangular; (iv) valva with spiniform process; (v) fultura inferior U-shaped; (vi) aedeagus narrowing distally with spines; (vii) lamella antevaginalis sclerotized and (viii) papillae anales straight.

Redescription. Forewing: length—males 16.6 mm (n = 11), females 25.4 mm (n = 5); slightly concave tornus; retinaculum absent.

Hindwing: length—males 12.6 mm (n = 11), females 15.8 mm (n = 5); apex right angled and tornus concave; male with sand-colored patch on the costal margin ventrally; frenulum absent.

Male genitalia (Fig. 6): tegumen with proximal and distal margins convex in dorsal view; saccus oval in lateral view; uncus triangular in dorsal view, with thin and short setae; gnathos reduced and distally sclerotized, projected disto-ventrally; valva triangular, costa slightly concave, spiniform process in the proximal part, clasper projected dorsally, apex rounded and ventral margin convex, slightly concave at the posterior end of sacculus; fultura inferior U-shaped, broad and thickly sclerotized arms with blunt apex and short setae; aedeagus cylindrical, proximal half thicker, narrowing distally with numerous spines, opening for the vesica extending along the entire posterior half, vesica without cornutus.

Female genitalia (Fig. 10): tergum VIII rectangular in lateral view, lamella antevaginalis sclerotized, ostium membranous; posterior apophyses longer than the anterior apophyses; bursa copulatrix with sclerotized wide ductus at anterior 1/4, second 1/4 membranous and narrow, and posterior half membranous and slightly thicker, corpus bursae membranous, without signum; papillae anales straight, taller than long and covered with short and thin setae.