Chlamydastis isidrochaconi Phillips and Brown, 2021

Phillips-Rodríguez, Eugenie, Brown, John W., Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H., 2021, Chlamydastis Meyrick of Costa Rica: barcodes, biology, and descriptions of 36 new species (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae), Insecta Mundi 2021 (868), pp. 1-96 : 31-32

Chlamydastis isidrochaconi Phillips and Brown , new species

Figures 28, 29 , 73 , 108

Holotype. Male, Costa Rica, Guanacaste, ACG, Sector Santa María, Manta Claro , 1610 m, 2.iii.2011, H. Cambronero and R. Franco, 11-SRNP-101196, GenBank accession code JN297218 ( USNM).

Paratypes (12♂, 2♀). See Appendix 1.

Diagnosis. Superficially, C. isidrochaconi can be distinguished from the other members of the Tryphon Species Group by the FW pattern of the male, in which the median fascia is ill-defined owing to a darker ground color, resulting in less contrast between the fascia and the ground. In the male genitalia, the uncus is much larger than in other members of the species group.

Description. MALE ( Fig. 28 ). Head. Frons white, collar light brown; labial palpus with first segment light brown, intermixed with black scales, second segment beige intermixed with brownish scales in basal 0.4, third segment with two broad, ill-defined, light brown rings, one at base and one near tip; antenna with sensory setae ca. 3.0 times width of flagellomere, lacking patch of fine pale scales. Thorax. Prothorax beige with a narrow brown band adjacent to collar, continuing over base of tegula; meso- and metathorax whitish intermixed with brown scales especially at mesothorax. FW length 12.2–13.2 mm; FW ground color pale brown with irregular scattered darker brown and ocherous scales; a broad, ill-defined, weakly hourglass-shaped brown median fascia extending from mid-costa, where it is broadest, to middle of hind margin, pale brown area of ground color distad of median fascia, becoming slightly darker near middle of termen, with a faint blackish brown spot near mid-termen. HW light brown. Abdomen. Dorsum pale brown with whitish scales on first and second segment. Genitalia ( Fig. 73 ) with uncus long; valva with large rounded expansion near middle of lower (ventral) margin, valva rounded in distal 0.3, with dense patch of specialized setae near mid-costa; sacculus broadest at base, attenuate distally, ending in a pointed tip, lacking prominent folded dorsal edge; basal portion of valva (sacculus) and subtriangular mesial expansion bearing long hairpencils; rounded basal excavation of juxta small, paried dorsal processes digitate; phallus short, broad, slightly curved, with pointed apical spine; vesica with small, crescent-shaped sclerite.

FEMALE ( Fig. 29 ). Head and Thorax. Essentially as described for male, except sensory setae of antenna short, sparse; FW length 11.9–12.5 mm; FW ground color mostly pale beige, intermixed with ocherous scales; pattern elements reduced to small brown spots and streaks, a pair of irregular brown streaks at mid-termen. Abdomen. Genitalia ( Fig. 108 ) with papillae anales short, broad, relatively parallel-sided, rounded posteriorly; ductus bursae long, slender, gradually broadened into corpus bursae (i.e., lacking distinct junction of ductus and corpus); signum large, U-shaped, situated at anterior end of corpus bursae, spiny at each distal 0.33, pointed distally, unspined in middle.

DNA barcodes. The 42 barcode sequences of C. isidrochaconi form a uniform BIN (BOLD:AAJ4196) with an average distance of 0.22% among barcodes, and a distance of 5.71% to its nearest neighbor, C. gracewoodae .

Distribution. Chlamydastis isidrochaconi has been collected in ACG above 1000 m in cloud forest. In the Cordillera Volcánica Central it has been found from 900 to 1600 m in the mountains of Area de Conservación La Amistad Pacífico.

Biology. Chlamydastis isidrochaconi has been reared once from Pouteria reticulata (Engl.) Eyma (n = 1) ( Sapotaceae ) (07-SRNP-35039) ( Table 1).

Etymology. Chlamydastis isidrochaconi is named in honor of Isidro Chacón in recognition of his curatorial and taxonomic contributions to the national biodiversity inventory of Costa Rica.

Molinella Species Group

The Molinella Species Group is composed of three species: C. jimlewisi and C. jimmilleri from Costa Rica, and C. molinella (Stoll) from Surinam. The three species share similar male genitalia with a large, somewhat conical uncus that is broadly attached to the tegumen; a reduced gnathos, membranous medially; a simple valva dilated near the middle with a poorly defined sacculus; a juxta that bears a pair of long lateral processes; and a large, curved phallus with a long, slender, rodlike projection that extends well beyond the apex of the phallus. The specialized arrowhead-tipped scales of the male originate in a dense bundle near the middle of the costa of the valva. In the female genitalia the ductus bursae is strongly sclerotized in the posterior 0.5 and membranous in the anterior 0.5; the corpus bursae is membranous throughout; and the signum is in the form of a subsquare, spiny plate. The forewing pattern is nearly identical among the three species with a somewhat variegated brown and gray ground color with three round, golden-ocherous spots: one at the base of the wing, one at the apex of the wing, and one at the lower half of the termen, the last separated from the previous spot by a narrow line of ground color.

Figures

Figures 23–31. Adults of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Tryphon and Molinella Species Groups. 23) C. powelli, male, holotype, 10-SRNP-114461. 24) C. powelli, female, paratype, 04-SRNP-33602. 25) C. gracewoodae, male, holotype, 06-SRNP-109407. 26). C. gracewoodae, female, paratype, 09-SRNP-105095. 27) C. juanmatai, male, holotype, INB0004269414. 28) C. isidrochaconi, male, paratype, INB0003041706. 29) C. isidrochaconi, female, paratype, INBIOCRI000263379. 30) C. jimlewisi, male, holotype, 11-SRNP-104260. 31) C. jimmilleri, male, paratype, INBIOCRI001755621.

Figures 70–73. Male genitalia (phallus detached) of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Tryphon Species Group. 70) C. powelli, 06-SRNP-107213, paratype. 71) C. gracewoodae, paratype, 10-SRNP-101168. 72) C. juanmatai, paratype, INB0004269413. 73) C. isidrochaconi, paratype, 11-SRNP-100689.

Figures 103–110. Female genitalia of Chlamydastis. 103) C. phytoptera, INBIOCRI000650708. 104) C. christhompsoni, paratype, INBIOCRI002553979. 105) C. elenaulateae, paratype, 03-SRNP-10412. 106) C. gladysrojasae, paratype, 08-SRNP-102184. 107) C. powelli, paratype, 06-SRNP-3185. 108) C. isidrochaconi, paratype, INB00151483. 109) C. jimlewisi, paratype, INB0073276. 110) C. jimmilleri, paratype, INB003326762.