Dysschema amapoarum Moraes & Duarte, 2015

Moraes, Simeão De Souza & Duarte, Marcelo, 2017, Comparative morphology and description of male of Dysschema amapoarum Moraes & Duarte, 2015 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae), Zootaxa 4299 (2), pp. 285-290 : 286-287

Dysschema amapoarum Moraes & Duarte, 2015

( Figs.1–11 )

Diagnosis (♂). Tegulae with a reddish basal macula near outer margin. Ventral surface of forewing and hindwing with a red macula on the base of costal margin, discal region of hingwing semihyaline whitish. Abdomen ventrally with two yellow subventral stripes. Valva with subtriangular harpe and valvula vestigial.

Description (♂) ( Figs. 1–2 ). Head. Predominantly brown. Vertex with white dots immediately posterior to ocelli and on the central region. Labial palpi brown. Thorax. Predominantly brown. Prothoracic collar with two yellow maculae. Tegulae with macula of red scales on the basal region, near outer margin. Forewing predominantly brown, darker on outer and inner margins; two whitish semihyaline patches: (i) “Y” shaped on middle and subapical regions, from the trunk of R vein, reaching tornus and (ii) transverse band at the proximal region of wing, between the trunk of R and CuA2 vein; red macula on the base of the wing, on the trunk of R vein; dorsal and ventral surfaces similar in color pattern, with small macula of red scales on the basal region of costal margin. Hindwing with costal, outer and inner margins dark brown, discal region white; veins lined with dark brown scales and a dark brown macula on the region of closure of discal cell; submarginal band with faint white maculae between M3 and 1A; ventral surface with same dorsal pattern, but with red macula on the base of costal margin. Abdomen. Dorsally brown with two pale light brown subdorsal stripes on A2 reaching A8; ventrally light brown with two lateral subventral stripes formed by quadrangular yellow maculae on the segments A2–A8. Tufts of reddish scales at the terminal portion of the abdomen. Genitalia ( Figs. 5–11 ). Tegumen rectangular in dorsal view straight anteriorly, with acute posterolateral projections. Uncus bifid, not fused to the tegumen; arms of uncus fused in the anterior portion, ventrally projected. Valva subelliptical; costa with medial apodeme (lacinia) acute, distal apodeme oblique, extended by the inner surface of valva to its middle portion; sacculus developed, consisting of a fold on the inner surface of the valva, oriented towards distal-medial axis; harpe subtriangular; cucullus digitiform; valvula vestigial. Transtilla sclerotized not articulated with the valva and not fused to the juxta. Juxta sclerotized, shaped like an inverted “U”. Saccus without anterior projections. Subscaphium smooth. Aedeagus straight and smooth; ejaculatory bulb rounded, foramen lateral; vesica bilobed, apex of the lobe opposite the opening of ejaculatory duct sclerotized, lobe near to the ejaculatory duct smooth, everted portion of the ejaculatory duct smooth.

Distribution. The species has been recorded from only two localities in the Atlantic Rainforest, both in the State of São Paulo, Brazil and apart around 100 kilometers each other. The female holotype was collected at Serra da Cantareira in 1931 (see Moraes & Duarte, 2015), and all the males available to the present study were collected at Boraceia Biological Station between 1947 and 1957.

Remarks. The specimens examined show no variation for the wing pattern. Surprisingly, all the field expeditions to this locality conducted by the MZSP posterior to the year of 1957 failed to collect a single specimen of D. amapoarum . Most of the nocturnal collections in Boraceia Biological Station were and are held at a location known as "castelinho", which is a research accommodation. Lauro Travassos idealized the construction of this accommodation on a hilltop whose external walls were painted white for the collection of nocturnal insects.

The wing pattern of D. amapoarum is quite similar to that of D. luctuosa ( Fig. 17 ), D. picta ( Fig. 22 ) and D. subapicalis ( Fig. 27 ). Superficially, D. amapoarum and D. subapicalis can be distinguished only by size, the former being larger than the latter. However, the genitalia are distinct ( Figs. 13–16, 28–31 ): tegumen of D. amapoarum lacking dorsal projections (present in D. subapicalis ); cuculus of D. amapoarum is more extended and lacking the corona (spines), which is present in D. subapicalis ; the aedeagus of D. amapoarum is typically straight, while it is contorted in D. subapicalis .

Despite the similar habitus, D. amapoarum can be easily distinguished from D. luctuosa and D. picta by the genital traits. The slender extended uncus, the extended digitiform cuculus, and the rectangular valvula ( Figs. 13– 16 ) are found in a different condition in D. luctuosa (shortened digitiform cuculus and rounded valvula) ( Figs. 18– 21 ) and in D. picta (shortened uncus, pointed cuculus, and trapezoidal valvula) ( Figs. 23–26 ).

Material examined. Brazil. São Paulo: Salesópolis, Estação Biológica de Boraceia , 850m. a.s.l, 15-i-1950 Travassos, Travassos Filho & Rabello col, 1 male ( MZSP) ; 20-xii-1948, Travassos & Ventel col., 23 males (MZSP); 850m. a.s.l., 27/ 29-xii-1948, Travassos & Ex. Rabello col., 15 males (MZSP); 9-v-1948, Rabello, Travassos & Costa col., 12 males (MZSP); 12/ 17-i-1948, L Travassos & D Braz col., 5 males (MZSP); 9-v-1954, L T F col., 1 male (MZSP); 24-v-1952, Travassos, Travassos-Filho & A Pearson col., 11 males (MZSP); 17/ 19-i- 1957, L.G. E. Buckup, M. Carrera & L Travassos col., 1 male (MZSP).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Habitus of Dysschema amapoarum. 1. Male, dorsal view. 2. Male, ventral view. 3. Female, dorsal view. 4. Female, ventral view. Scale bar: 1 cm.

FIGURES 5 – 11. Male genitalia of Dysschema amapoarum. 5. Genital capsule, lateral view. 6. Tegumen and uncus, dorsal view. 7. Genital capsule, lateral view without the valva. 8. Genital capsule, frontal view without the valva. 9. Valva, lateral view of inner surface. 10. Genital capsule, ventral view. 11. Aedeagus, lateral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 12 – 31. Comparative morphology of male genitalia and habitus. 12 – 16. D. amapoarum. 12. Habitus, dorsal view. 13. Tegumen and uncus, dorsal view. 14. Genital capsule, lateral view. 15. Valva, lateral view of inner surface. 16. Aedeagus, lateral view. 17 – 21. D. luctuosa. 17. Habitus, dorsal view. 18. Tegumen and uncus, dorsal view. 19. Genital capsule, lateral view. 20. Valva, lateral view of inner surface. 21. Aedeagus, lateral view. 22 – 26. D. picta. 22. Habitus, dorsal view. 23. Tegumen and uncus, dorsal view. 24. Genital capsule, lateral view. 25. Valva, lateral view of inner surface. 26. Aedeagus, lateral view. 27 – 31. D subapicalis. 27. Habitus, dorsal view. 28. Tegumen and uncus, dorsal view. 29. Genital capsule, lateral view. 30. Valva, lateral view of inner surface. 31. Aedeagus, lateral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.