Nelphe dominica Pinheiro, 2016

Pinheiro, Lívia R., 2016, Description of two new species of Nelphe Herrich-Schäffer, with comments on the genus (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini, Ctenuchina), Zootaxa 4079 (4), pp. 487-494 : 491-493

Nelphe dominica Pinheiro , sp. n.

( Figs. 2 ; 9–17)

Holotype. DOMINICA (E. A. Agar), Rothschild bequest B. M. 1939–1 ( BMNH), male.

One paratype. DOMINICA, Jan–Feb [19]05 (E.A. Agar), Rothschild bequest B. M. 1939–1 ( BMNH), 1 female.

Diagnosis ♂ and ♀. Five dark brown markings each in forewing cell CuP–1A and on inner margin. Hindwings predominantly whitish, apex and external and internal margins light brown. Abdominal T3–5 with orange scales laterally, and brown scales dorsally. T6–7 orange, except for the anterior margin, brown. S2–6 whitish, S 7 in female, and S 7–8 in males brown. T7 and S7 of females with undeciduous setae. Aedeagus straight. Dorsal abdominal intersegmental membrane 9–10 with paired projections longer than the uncus in lateral view. Valvae with a simple apex, more or less round.

Description ♂. Head. Proboscis light brown. Labial palpi exceeding vertex in lateral view. First palpi segment brown dorsally and laterally, and yellowish ventrally. Second and third palpi segments brown, except for the tips, yellowish. Third palpi segment twice as long as wide. Frontoclypeus slightly longer than wide, predominantly smooth-scaled, except for the dorsal portion, rough-scaled. Scales predominantly brown, dorsal margin, yellowish. Vertex brown medially and yellowish laterally. Occiput brown anteriorly and yellowish posteriorly. Ocular ring brown. Scape brown laterally and yellowish anteriorly and posteriorly. Pedicel predominantly brown, inner surface whitish. Proximal flagellomeres as the pedicel. Cervical scales orange. Thorax. Mesothorax predominantly yellowish in dorsal view, with two brown areas, anteriorly and posteriorly. Metascutellum orange. Patagia predominantly brown, with a broad yellowish stripe near the external margin, and a thin yellowish stripe at the inner margin. Anterior portion of tegulae yellowish, posterior portion brown with a yellowish stripe near external margin and an orange stripe at the internal margin. Epimera and episterna with long brown and yellowish scales. Forecoxae brown anteriorly, with some yellowish scales at the proximal portion of the external side. Forefemora brown dorsally and whitish ventrally. Foretibiae predominantly brown, with a yellowish stripe between the anterior surface and the external lateral. Foretarsi brown, except for the proximal margin of the first segment, whitish. Midcoxae yellowish anteriorly. Midfemora as forefemora. Midtibiae predominantly brown, except for the proximal margin and the spurs, yellowish. Midtarsi as foretarsi, except for the distal margin of the last segment, yellowish. Hindlegs as midlegs, except for the tibiae, brown with yellowish spurs. Forewings. Entirely scaled. Dorsal surface with veins predominantly covered with brown scales, some areas with yellowish scales. Pattern of the dorsal surface of the forewings consisting of various dark brown spots (darker than the brown scales covering the veins) surrounded by yellowish scales, separated from each other by whitish scales. Costal margin with five long dark brown spots. Discal cell with three spots. Cell R4–R5 with two spots, the distal slightly longer than the proximal. Cells R5–M1 to CuA1–CuA2 with three dark brown spots each. Cell CuA2–CuP with five distinguishable spots, the apical one being continuous with that of cell CuP–1A, which has five spots. Inner margin with three spots. Fringe of forewings alternating brown and whitish scales. Ventral surface with only two hues of scales, dark brown and whitish. Venation as in Nelphe trimaculata . Hindwings. Entirely scaled, predominantly whitish. Veins covered by brown scales. Anterior half of the discal cell, apex, external and internal margin light brown. Venation as in Nelphe trimaculata . Abdomen. T1, postspiracular hoods, and T2 entirely brown. T3–5 brown dorsally and orange laterally. T6–7 orange, except for the anterior margin, brown. T8 brown. Hair-like scales present on T1–4. S2–6 whitish. S7–8 brown. T8 and S8 of the male sclerotized. Ventral intersegmental membrane 7–8 with coremata.

Male genitalia. Aedeagus smooth and straight, with approximately the same width throughout. Ejaculatory duct positioned dorsally, and longer than the Aedeagus. Coecum round. Vesica entirely membranous. Saccus slightly developed, asymmetrical. Tegumen glabrous, asymmetrical, the left side longer than the right side. Anterior margin with a “U”-shaped indentation, posterior margin almost straight, perpendicular to the anterior-posterior body axis. Paired dorsal projections arising from the intersegmental membrane 9–10, bilobed, the ventral lobe densely covered with setae, the dorsal lobe with few lateral setae. Dorsal lobe reaching the ventral lobe in lateral view. Uncus symmetrical, compressed laterally, with few dorsal setae near its tip, and slightly longer than the ventral lobe of the dorsal projections. Apex sharp. Transtilla sclerotized, glabrous. Juxta sclerotized, broad. Anellus predominantly membranous, with two sclerotized areas, one ventral, the other on the right side. Valvae slightly asymmetrical, both exceeding the uncus, and with a simple apex, densely covered by setae. Internal surface of the valvae also with setae.

Description ♀. (adult not figured) Characters as in the male, except for the following: Head. Proximal third of the antennae whitish on the internal surface. Apex whitish dorsally. Thorax. Hindwings with three frenular bristles. Abdomen. T8 orange anteriorly and brown posteriorly. T7 and S7 with undeciduous setae, more densely distributed in the latter. Female genitalia. T8 conspicuously corrugated. Antevaginal lamella (S8) glabrous, sclerotized, composed of two separated plates. T9 sclerotized. Post-vaginal lamella (S9) also sclerotized, with a medial ridge and few setae on its posterior margin. Anal papillae with a proximal protuberance, more densely covered by setae than the rest of their surface. Ostium centralized. Ductus bursae shorter than the corpus bursae, proximal portion slightly sclerotized. Corpus bursae predominantly membranous, approximately round, with very small signa medially and near the ductus bursae. Ductus seminalis arising from the corpus bursae, dorsally.

Etymology. The specific epithet is to be considered in apposition, and is an allusion to the type locality of this species.

Remarks. The antennae of the male are broken, so it is unknown whether their tips are whitish as in the female.

Nelphe dominica sp. n. differs from the other species of the genus mainly in the abdominal tergites T6–7, with the orange scales covering the tergites not only laterally but also on the dorsal surface.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Habitus of the new species. 1) Holotype of Nelphe trimaculata sp. n., dorsal and ventral views; 2) Holotype of N. dominica sp. n., dorsal and ventral views;