Josia ligula (Hübner)

Miller, James S, 2009, Generic Revision Of The Dioptinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Notodontidae) Part 2: Josiini, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2009 (321), pp. 675-1022 : 817-818

Josia ligula (Hübner) Figures 336C–E, 336H , 338 ; plate 32 [EX]

Hipocrita Tineiformis ligula Hübner, 1806 : pl. 180, figs. 1–4.

TYPE LOCALITY: Suriname.

TYPE: Not seen.

Josia tenuivitta Butler, 1878: 61 . New synonymy. TYPE LOCALITY: Brazil, Pará. TYPE: Syntype ³, ‘‘77.93’’, Serpa, leg.

Bates, 13 Feb 1875 (BMNH).

Bombyx fulvia Cramer, 1779: 101 , pl. 251, fig. F. TYPE LOCALITY: Suriname.

TYPE: Syntype ³ ( BMNH).

DISCUSSION: Establishing the identity of Josia ligula —the type species of the genus— has been problematic. There is no text to accompany Hübner’s color illustration, so the figure alone must serve in lieu of a species description. It is usually assumed for Hübner types that they are lost or have been destroyed. Specimens most closely matching the figures of ligula in Hübner come from Suriname and French Guiana. After considerable effort I have identified material that is, in all probability, Josia ligula . The most reliable way to recognize this species is by the following set of characteristics: front white; FW length 5 12.0–16.0 mm; longitudinal FW and HW stripes moderately wide (wider in females), falling slightly short of outer margin; FW costa dark with a few scattered buff-colored scales; stripes orange, rather than yellow or yellow-orange.

My research suggests that Josia ligula is widely distributed across the Amazon Basin. Its range extends from the Guiana Shield and Venezuela, south into Brazil at least as far as Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais (VOB), and west to Rondônia (AMNH). This is also one of the few dioptine species recorded from Trinidad. The western boundaries of the moth’s distribution are open to question. Josia ligula is difficult to separate from J. oribia , endemic to the eastern Andes of Peru and Bolivia.

Josia tenuivitta Butler had heretofore been regarded as a distinct species. I studied the BMNH type of J. tenuivitta in detail. Furthermore, a male from the LACM, exactly matching the tenuivitta type, was dissected (JSM-1376). Study of body characters and wing pattern suggest that tenuivitta is a junior synonym of Josia ligula , and I here formalize that proposal.

According to Martin Honey (BMNH; personal commun.), Bombyx fulvia Cramer (1779) is not a valid species. It is a subsequent misidentification of Phalaena Noctua fulvia Linnaeus, 1758 .

DISTRIBUTION: Suriname (BMNH, CUIC, NMW, ZMH); French Guiana (AMNH, BMNH, CAS, CUIC, MNHN, OUMNH, USNM, ZMH); Venezuela (CUIC); Trinidad (LACM, BMNH); Brazil (AMNH, BMNH, CAS, CMNH, LACM, MNHN, MPM, NMW, OUMNH, USNM, VOB, ZMC, ZMH).

DISSECTED: ³, French Guiana, Maroni River , 60 m, USNM (genitalia slide no. JSM-545 ) ; ³, French Guiana, Cayenne , 1875, leg. H. Deyrolle, MNHN (genitalia slide no. JSM-547 ) ; ³, Brazil, Rondônia, 62 km S of Ariquemes, Rd. #C- 20, 7 km E of B- 65, 165 m, primary forest, Fazenda Rancho Grande , 10 ° 32 9 S, 62 ° 48 9 W, 15 Apr 1992, leg. George E. Martinez, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-676 ) ; ³, Brazil, 24 km E Formoso, Go. , 16 May 1956, leg. F.S. Truxal, LACM (genitalia slide no. JSM-1376 ) ; ³, Brazil, Rondônia, Fazenda Rancho Grande , 200 m, 19 Jun 1993, leg. A. Sourakov, AMNH (wing slide no. JSM-1664 ) ; ♀, French Guiana, MNHN (genitalia slide no. JSM-548 ) ; ♀, Brazil, Rondônia, Fazenda Rancho Grande , 200 m, 9 Jun 1993, leg. A. Sourakov, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-548 ) .

Figures

Fig. 336. Morphology of Josia. A, J. fustula ³ head, lateral view; B, J. fustula ³ head, lateral view; C, J. ligula ³ head, lateral view; D, J. ligula ³ head, frontal view; E, J. ligula ³ head, posterior view; F, J. mononeura ³ wings; G, J. frigida ♀ wings; H, J. ligula ³ wings; I, J. megaera ³ tegula; J, J. megaera ³ labial palpus (illustration by J.S. Miller).

Fig. 338. Genitalia of Josia ligula (³ JSM-547, ♀ JSM-548). A, ³ genitalia; B, ³ Tg8; C, ♀ genitalia; D, aedeagus; E, ³ St8.