Titaea timur (Fassl, 1915)

Santos, A. A., Serrão, J. E., Zanetti, R., Leite, G. L. D., Wilcken, C. F., Zanuncio, J. C., Northeast, The, Forest, Amazon, Forest, Atlantic, Collection, Zoological, Caxias, Campus, Maranhão, Universidade Estadual do & The, Brazil., 2022, Arsenura and Titaea (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Arsenurinae): new records for the Cerrado of Northeast Brazil, Brazilian Journal of Biology (e 264670) 82, pp. 1-4 : 3

Titaea timur (Fassl, 1915) ( Figure 1E )

Distribution: Colombia, Brazil (Amazonas, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará; Rondônia), Ecuador, Peru ( Lemaire, 1980; Camargo and Schmidt, 2009; Câmara et al., 2011; Miranda et al., 2015). Record: Brazil – Maranhão, Mirador State Park, Geraldina Base, light trap, Mosquito Base, 04- 08.ii.2011, F. Limeira-de-Oliveira, 1 specimen.

The record of A. beebei in the Northeast expands the distribution of this species, previously recorded in the Amazon biome, northern Brazil ( Lemaire, 1980) and Trinidad and Tobago ( Kelly and Cock, 2018). This biome shares with the Cerrado in the Maranhão state and the proximity between them increases common species ( Camargo, 2001). In addition, the heterogeneity of the Cerrado facilitates the adaptation of species from other biomes,such as those of Saturniidae recorded in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest (Braga and Diniz, 2015). The polyphagy of Saturniidae species and similar climatic variations also facilitate the simultaneous colonization of different Brazilian biomes by them (Camargo and Becker, 1999).

The records of A. beebei and T. tamerlan amazonensis as new for the Maranhão state increase the importance of studying species of these genera of Arsenurinae in this region. Knowledge of Saturniidae subfamilies, including Arsenurinae in the Northeast region is lower than that in the Southeast and South regions of Brazil ( Mielke et al., 2020). The last records published of Saturniidae in the Cerrado of Maranhão were the description of Paradaemonia balsasensis Mielke & Furtado, 2005 and Rhescyntis reducta Camargo & Becker, 2001 (Becker and Camargo, 2001; Mielke and Furtado, 2005).

Arsenura beebei , as a new record for the Maranhão state, Northeast and the Cerrado biome of Brazil and T.tamerlan amazonensis for Maranhão,expand the knowledge on the fauna of these genera of the Arsenurinae in Brazil.

Figures

Figure 1. Adults of Arsenura beebei (A), Arsenura armida armida (B), Arsenura sylla maranhensis (C), Titaea tamerlan amazonensis (D) and Titaea timur (A) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Arsenurinae) collected in the Mirador State Park, Maranhão, Brazil, with a light trap.