Bryolymnia viridata ( Harvey, 1876 ) Lafontaine & Walsh & Holland, 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 : 202-203

Bryolymnia viridata ( Harvey, 1876) , comb. n.

Figs 23, 24, 33, 41

Jaspidea viridata Harvey 1876: 35 .

Type material. Holotype ♁. Location of type unknown. Type locality: USA, California, San Diego.

Other material examined and distribution. USA: California: Alameda Co., Los Angeles Co., San Diego Co., Sonoma Co.

Remarks. This species previously has been associated with the genus Cryphia Hübner in the Bryophilinae. Chris Schmidt, working with DNA barcodes of Cryphia species noted that Cryphia viridata associated with Bryolymnia . Examination of the male genitalia confirmed this generic association. Th e male genitalia are more weakly sclerotized than most other Elaphriini, but the membranous transverse postmedial suture of the sacculus, and the membranous weak area on the costal margin of the valve associate this species with the Elaphriini, and the sclerotized plate on the dorsal rod extending from the base of the clasper to the dorsal margin of the valve associates it with Bryolymnia within the Elaphriini.

Diagnosis. Bryolymnia viridata differs from all other congeners in the genus in having the forewing ground color almost entirely green. There usually is some fuscous shading over the ground, especially in the subterminal area, but not in the terminal area. In most specimens there is dark fuscous or black shading between the reniform and orbicular spots, on the costa above the orbicular spot, representing the upper part of the medial line, and on the costal part of the subterminal area. A rounded spot in the fold, possibly derived from the claviform spot, looks like a second orbicular spot and often has a similar dark central dot. Th e terminal line is a series of black dashes between the wing veins, and this in combination with a white fringe with black wedge-shaped spots at the end of the veins, give the fringe a checkered pattern. Forewing length ranges from 12 to 15 mm. Th e hindwing is white with a variable amount of fuscous on the veins, discal spot, postmedial line and terminal line. Females tend to have more fuscous shading in these areas than do males. Male genitalia. The valve is more oval than in other species of Bryolymnia , broader mesially and tapered apically with the cucullus not differentiated from the rest of the valve and the apical corona weak and confined to the dorsal half of the outer margin. Th e clasper has a slight subbasal tooth dorsally and ventrally, and the sclerotized dorsal lobe on the dorsal rod extending from the base of the clasper is somewhat inflated and lobed, not a flat rounded plate as in most other species. Th e uncus is broad mesially and tapered toward each end, unlike other species. Both the aedeagus and vesica are unarmed, the latter being about as long as the aedeagus, slightly swollen at the base, then tapered to the apex. Female genitalia. The corpus bursae is oval, about 2 × as long as the ductus bursae, without signa, and with the ductus seminalis on a small appendix bursae posteriorly on the left. The posterior 1/3 of the ductus bursae is heavily sclerotized and this expands into a broad U-shaped ostium bursae with a very slightly convex posterior margin.

Distribution and biology. Bryolymnia viridata occurs in western California from Sonoma County north of San Francisco southward to San Diego County. Adults have been collected late May to mid-October.

Acknowledgments

We thank Terhune Dickel (Anthony, Florida), Cliff Ferris (Laramie Wyoming), Greg Forbes (Las Cruces, New Mexico), Martin Honey (Natural History Museum, London, UK), James Liebherr and Richard Hoebeke (CUIC, Ithaca, New York), Jim Miller (AMNH, New York), Paul Opler (C. P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Fort Collins, Colorado), Michael Pogue (Systematic Entomology Laboratory, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC), and J. B. Sullivan for the loan of specimens and data. We thank Jocelyn Gill (CNC, Ottawa, Canada) for assistance with the preparation of the genitalia, photographs, and plates. Paul Hebert and the staff at the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada, provided data and information from the Barcode of Life Data (BOLD) system. Bo Sullivan provided a very helpful review of the manuscript with a good perspective of the group in Central and South America.