Bryolymnia mixta Lafontaine & Walsh, 2010

Lafontaine, Donald, Walsh, J. & Holland, Richard, 2010, A revision of the genus Bryolymnia Hampson in North America with descriptions of three new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Elaphriini), ZooKeys 39 (39), pp. 187-204 : 196-199

Bryolymnia mixta Lafontaine & Walsh , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1F7549F2-FF28-406A-8DEC-AC617DBA532E

Figs 10, 11, 28

Type material. Holotype ♁. Arizona, Santa Cruz Co., Patagonia Mts. , rest stop on Arizona Hwy. 82, 3 mi W of Patagonia, 4000’, 11 July 2002, B. Walsh. CNC . Paratype: 1 ♁. USA, Arizona. Santa Cruz Co., Patagonia Mts., Patagonia roadside rest, Hwy mile 15.6, 27 June 2006, B. Walsh, riparian habitat. Paratype deposited in JBW.

Etymology. The name mixta is from the Latin mixtus, meaning mixed or mingled and refers to the blotchy confused appearance of the forewing maculation.

Diagnosis. Bryolymnia mixta can be recognized the mottled black and brown forewing pattern that obscures the maculation. It is most similar to B. ensina , but in B. mixta there is much more black shading in the medial area than the basal area, the opposite of B. ensina . In the male genitalia the sclertoized plate at the base of the clasper is somewhat mushroom shaped, narrow basally and abruptly expanded apically, and the apex of the digitus also is abruptly expanded. In the vesica there is a narrow sclerotized rod that extends from the apex of the aedeagus to a long spine-like medial cornutus. In B. ensina the sclerotized plate on the basal arm of the clasper is tapered to a broadly rounded apex, and the digitus is tapered apically. In the vesica of B. ensina there is a broad, heavily-sclerotized lobe extending from the apex of the aedeagus onto the vesica and the apical 1/2 of the vesica is covered with minute spines.

Description. Adults. Female unknown. Head – Male antenna with flagellomeres very slightly swollen laterally; setae tending to group into two or three clusters on each side of each flagellomere. Palpi and head a mixture of broad apically serrated pale-brown and blackish-brown scales, the latter predominating. Thorax – Covered with scales similar to those on head, except blackish-brown scales predominating; a slightly divided dorsal tuft on metathorax. Legs: Covered with blackish-brown scales with white band in middle of tibiae and at apices of tarsal segments. Tibia without spiniform setae. Wings: Forewing length: 12 mm (2 specimens). Dorsal forewing ground color brown heavily dusted with blackish-brown scales, especially in lower part of medial area, to a lesser degree in lower part of basal and subterminal areas, and forming a dark streak distal to reniform spot and in costal part of subterminal area; antemedial and postmedial lines black but partially obscured by scattered black scales on forewing; reniform and orbicular spots with some gray scales but mainly obscured by mottled ground color; subterminal line and apical part of terminal area pale brown; fringe dark gray. Dorsal hindwing fuscous, darker on discal spot, veins, and wing margin. Fringe pale buff with fuscous medial line. Male genitalia – Uncus cylindrical, tapered to spine-like apex. Valve strap-like with ventral margin slightly convex near middle and dorsal margin slightly angled at point of weak sclerotization; apex of valve with well-developed corona on outer margin; digitus long and tubular, mainly fused to costal margin of valve except for short spatulate apex; apical part of clasper slender and upcurved, dorsal part of basal rod extending to dorsal margin of valve enlarged into apically rounded process with narrow base, somewhat mushroom shaped; apical part of sacculus beyond postmedial suture slightly more heavily sclerotized than basal part. Aedeagus irregularly sclerotized with narrow sclerite extending onto vesica on right to base of submedial cornutus. Vesica about as long as aedeagus with tapered cornutus about 2/3 as long as width of vesica. Female genitalia – Unknown.

Distribution and biology. Bryolymnia mixta is known only from the Patagonia Mountains in southeastern Arizona. Adults were collected in late June and mid-July.

Figures 34–4Ι. Bryolymnia female genitalia. 34 B. viridimedia 35 B. poasia 36 B. marti 37 B. ensina 38 B. biformata 39 B. anthracitaria 40 B. semifascia 4Ι B. viridata .

Bryolymnia ensina ( Barnes, 1907) , comb. n. Figs 12, 13, 29, 37

Oligia ensina Barnes 1907: 12 .

Calymniodes obliquirena Hampson 1918: 151 .

Type material. Oligia ensina : holotype ♁, USNM, examined. Type locality: USA, Arizona, [Cochise Co.], Huachuca Mts. Calymniodes obliquirena : holotype ♁, BMNH, examined. Type locality: USA, Arizona, [Cochise Co., Huachuca Mts.], Palmerlee.

Other material examined and distribution. Mexico: State of Durango (Sierra Madre Occidental) . USA: Arizona: Cochise Co. ( Huachuca Mts ) ; New Mexico: Grant Co. ( Pinos Altos Mts ) .

Diagnosis. Bryolymnia ensina is a medium-sized species (forewing length: 12–14 mm), with a mainly brown or orange-brown forewing with blackish-brown shading in the upper half of the antemedial area, in the subterminal area, especially toward the costa, and as one or two dark streaks between the reniform spot and the subterminal line. It looks like a large form of Bryolymnia biformata , but the dark shading on each side of the paler medial area is much more patchy than in B. biformata . Th e hindwing is pale fuscous basally with darker fuscous on the veins, discal spot, and on the outer 1/3 of the wing. Bryolymnia ensina appears to be most closely related to B. mixta on the basis of the male genitalia, but the details of male genitalia and the mainly pale medial area of the forewing allow the two species to be readily separated. Male genitalia. The male genitalia are similar to those of B. mixta , but in B. ensina the uncus is swollen dorsally toward the base, not cylindrical, the dorsal process from the basal arm of the clasper is rounded and tapered, not basally constricted, the digitus is fused to the inner surface of the valve, not free of the valve and apically spatulate as in B. mixta , and the clasper has a short dorsal branch about 1/3 from the base. Th e sclerotized extension of the aedeagus is broad, heavily sclerotized, and apically rounded, unlike the slender extension in B. mixta . Th e vesica has no cornutus, unlike many other species of Bryolymnia , and the apical half of the vesica is covered with minute spines. Female genitalia. These are most likely to be similar to the female genitalia of B. mixta , which are unknown. Th e ductus bursae is short, 1/3 as long as the corpus bursae, and the posterior 2/3 is heavily sclerotized and fused into a broad posteriorly convex ostium bursae with a small pouch on each side of the ostium. Th e corpus bursae is oblong, 3 × as long as wide, with two long thin signa.

Distribution and biology. Bryolymnia ensina occurs in coniferous forests from southeastern Arizona (Huachuca Mts.) and southwestern New Mexico (Pinos Altos Mountains) southward in the Sierra Madre Occidental to the State of Durango. Collecting dates range from mid-June to mid-July.