Dysschema amapoarum Moraes & Duarte

Moraes, Simeão De Souza & Duarte, Marcelo, 2015, Description of four new species of the tiger moth genus Dysschema Hübner (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini, Pericopina), Zootaxa 4006 (3), pp. 540-550 : 549

Dysschema amapoarum Moraes & Duarte sp.nov.

( Figs. 7–8 , 30–32 )

Diagnosis (♀). Submarginal band of the hindwing with white dots between Rs and 1A. Abdomen with two lateral whitish-blue bands dorsally and two lateral yellow bands ventrally, seventh sternite with two symmetric pouches lateral to the ostium, ostium bearing two rounded lateral projections.

Description (♀). Head. Frons and labial palp brown, vertex brown with tuffs of white scales on the regions anterior and posterior to the scape and posterior to the ocellus. Thorax. Predominantly brown. Prothoracic collar with two yellow maculae; prothoracic coxa yellow. Tegulae with two basal maculae, reddish near the inner margin and yellow near the outer margin. Forewing dark brown; four whitish maculae: (i) triangular on the basal region, between costal margin and CuP, (ii) subquadrate on the median region, in the middle of discal cell, between the trunk of R vein and the trunk of CuA, (iii) subretangular on the median region, near the tornus, between CuA2 and 2A, (iv) on the subapical region, between R4 and CuA1; two maculae on the wing base, reddish on the trunk of R vein and white on the trunk of CuA; ventral surface with the same dorsal pattern, but with the whitish maculae more delimited and a red macula on the base of costal margin. Hindwing with the costal and outer margins dark brown, discal region whitish with the region between the trunk of CuA and 1A obscured by brown scales; region of closure of discal cell with a brown macula; submarginal band with white dots between Rs and 1A; ventral surface with the same dorsal pattern but with a red macula on the basal region of costal margin. Abdomen. Dorsally brown, with two lateral whitish-blue bands between A1 and A8; ventrally brown with two lateral yellow bands. Tuffs of reddish scales at the terminal portion of the abdomen. Genitalia ( Figs. 30–32 ). Seventh sternite with two symmetric pouches lateral to the ostium; ostium sclerotized, fused with the seventh sternite and bearing two rounded lateral projections; antrum sclerotized, slightly turned to the right; ductus bursae long and membranous; corpus bursae extending beyond the seventh sternite, signa absent. Antevaginal and postvaginal lamellae absent.

Etymology. The specific epithet was chosen because, so far, only the female is known. Amapô in Yoruba means vagina and in Portuguese the term has undergone a derivation, being popularly used as “Amapoa” in reference to the female figure. The specific epithet is also a tribute to all women who fight bravely for equality of rights in the male-dominated society where we live.

Distribution. The species has just a single record for the Serra da Cantareira, which is part of the remnants of the Atlantic Rainforest in the State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil.

Remarks. D. amapoarum is a rare species in collections, so far known only by the female form and by the type specimen. The wing pattern is similar to D. imitata (Druce, 1910) and D. titan (Druce, 1910) .

Type series. HOLOTYPE ♀: BRAZIL. [São Paulo]: [Serra da] Cantareira, vi-1931, R. Spitz col., ( BMNH).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. New species of Dysschema Hübner. 1 – 2. Dysschema uriasi Moraes sp. nov., holotype (Campos do Jordão, São Paulo, Brazil), dorsal and ventral view, respectively. 3 – 4. Dysschema wayneri Moraes sp. nov., holotype (Campos do Jordão, São Paulo, Brazil), dorsal and ventral view, respectively. 5 – 6. Dysschema tarsoi Moraes sp. nov., holotype (Guerrero, Mexico), dorsal and ventral view, respectively. 7 – 8. Dysschema amapoarum Moraes & Duarte sp. nov., holotype (Cantareira, São Paulo, Brazil), dorsal and ventral view, respectively. Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 30 – 32. Female genitalia of Dysschema amapoarum Moraes & Duarte sp. nov., holotype (Cantareira, São Paulo, Brazil). 30. Ventral view. 31. Dorsal view. 32. Lateral view. Abbreviations. atr: antrum, b. cpx: bursa copulatrix, d. brs: ductus bursae, g. phn: pheromone gland, l. pch: lateral pouch, l. pjc: lateral projection, ost: ostium, p. anl: papilla anal, stn vii: seventh sternite. Scale bar 1 mm.