Hapigia postpallida Becker, 2023

Becker, Vitor Osmar, 2023, Three new species of the Neotropical genus Hapigia Guenée from Brazil (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae, Heterocampinae), Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 63, pp. 1-7 : 6

Hapigia postpallida Becker , sp. nov.

( Figs. 2A, B, 4 A-C, I-J)

Diagnosis: FW reddish-brown, with three silvery dots disposed in an oblique line at end of cell, HW pale yellow tinged fuscous towards margins.

Description: Male FW length 23-25 mm (50-56 mm wingspan), female 28 mm (62 mm wingspan). Head and thorax dark brown. Second and 3 rd segments of labial palpus mixed with white scales at tip. Thorax dorsally with pair of blotches with white scales in the middle; reddish-brown ventrally; legs with white scales on articulations. Male ( Fig. 2A) FW dorsally reddish-brown, shaded dark-brown; basal, antemedial and postmedial bands dark-brown, with scattered white scales:basal and antemedial indented between veins, postmedial evenly curved from distal third of costa to Cu2, then perpendicular to dorsum before tornus; three round silvery dots, with red and white scales in the middle, at end of cell,disposed in an arch: costal one smaller; pair of silvery dots, followed by white scales distally, before apex, between costa and R3; whitish patch from base to basal band, below cell to dorsum; pale fuscous ventrally. HW whitish, veins dark fuscous towards margin. Abdomen fuscous dorsally, red brown ventrally, pale fuscous at tip. Female ( Fig. 2B), darker than male, with HW fuscous.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 4A): Uncus short, thin, constrict- ed along middle, slightly thickened before minute apex; socii as long as uncus, curved dorsad, slightly thickened along middle. Valva long and narrow, 6× as long as wide, narrowing gradually towards round apex. Vinculum round, with a small indentation at middle. Juxta a vertical, oblong plate, round basally, expanded as a thin digit distally. Phallus ( Fig. 4B), 5× longer than thick, slightly curved ventrad at basal third; vesica with a pack of deciduous, thin, modified spines.

Female genitalia ( Figs. 4I, J): As long as abdomen. Apophysis very thin, posterioris twice as long as anterioris. Ostium bursae as wide as lamella antevaginalis, margin evenly round; antrum sclerotized, wider than long, narrowing gradually towards ductus bursae; ductus bursae twice as long as bursa diameter, broader than antrum, twisted basally, then thin, slightly sclerotized towards bursa; corpus bursae globular, wrinkled longitudinally; pair of signa, each one a pair of elongate bar.

Material examined (11 ♂♂, 1 ♀, 2 g. s.): Holotype ♂, BRAZIL: Bahia, Reserva Serra Bonita , 15°23′S, 39°33′W, 600 m, 15-XI-1995 (Becker 106038) ; Paratypes: 1♀, same locality as holotype, 800 m, Reserva Serra Bonita , 15°23′S, 39°33′W, 800 m, IV-2021, g. s. 6139 (Becker 163249) ; 4♂♂, Santa Catarina, Lauro Müller , -28,32, -49,51, 475 m, 17-18.III.2023 (Becker 167848) ; 1 ♂, São Paulo, Jundiaí, Japi , 23°13′S, 46°56′W, 900 m, 13-16-II-2001 (Becker 131783) ; 1♂, São Paulo, São José do Barreiro , -22,72, -44,61, 1,640 m, X-2021, g. s. 6138 (Becker 164584) ; 2♂♂, São Paulo, São Luis do Paraitinga , 22°00′S, 39°03′W, 700 m, 26-X-2019 (Becker 160767) ( VOB) ; 1♂, São Paulo, Guaratinguetá, Santa Maria da Serra , -22,71, -45,43, 1,900 m, 25-27.III.2023 (Becker 168021) ( VOB) .

Distribution: Brazil, along the Atlantic Forest,from Bahia to Santa Catarina.

Remarks: One of the smallest species in the genus. The only other species of Hapigia with whitish HW are H. plateada Schaus, 1904 ( Figs. 2C, D) and H. curvilinea Schaus ( Fig. 1E). The former has HW wholly whitish-cream,and FW has four silver dots at distal end of cell, forming a large, irregular triangle. The second has HW pale yellow, with veins fuscous towards margins, as in H. postpallida but the silver dots at end of FW cell are disposed in an arch. In H. postpallida the three dots are form an oblique straight line, and the valva is narrow, not as wide as in the other two ( Figs. 3I, 4A).The FW of H.plateada varies from dark reddish-brown ( Fig. 2C), to ochre yellow ( Fig. 2D). The reddish color form was described as H. plateada , the ochre yellow form as H. dorema Schaus, 1921 (synonymized by Becker, 2014: 9).