Getta ennia Druce Plate, 1899

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 : 705

Getta ennia Druce Plate 26 [EX]

Getta ennia Druce, 1899: 295 .

TYPE LOCALITY: ‘‘Brazil’’.

TYPE: Syntype ♀, leg. Smith ( BMNH).

DISCUSSION: Since its original description ( Druce, 1899), ennia has been included in Getta , even though males lack the conspicuous FW and HW androconial patches found in other species. My cladistic analyses confirm this placement (fig. 283). Supporting evidence includes: the tuft of scales on the antennal scape; the presence of an elongate anterior apodeme on male St8; the presence of a thornlike process on the valva apex, and the presence of a coriaceous sclerite on the female CB. Getta ennia also shows three important wing venation characters of the genus: FW vein M 1 is stalked with Rs 1 –Rs 4; HW veins Rs and M 1 are completely fused; and the male FW DC is short and narrow.

The androconia found in other Getta species were thus either lost in G. ennia , or this species represents the basal element of the genus and they evolved subsequently. As is noted in the Diagnosis for Getta (above), the wings of G. ennia males seem to possess a rudimentary androconial system. This could have led to the evolution of more elaborate structures.

Getta ennia shows additional characteristics setting it apart from other Getta species. All other taxa have Lp1, the lower portion of the occiput, and often the propleuron, yellow. In G. ennia these regions are uniformly dark gray, like the rest of the body. The labial palpi of G. ennia are thinner than those of other Getta species. The shape of the male tegumen and socii uncus complex are also unusual, as is the structure of the ventral plate in the female corpus bursae.

An AMNH male from Bolívar in southern Venezuela (leg. Carl Ferraris) is blacker than most examples of Getta ennia ; the abdomen is entirely black above, with the venter being broadly dark gray. Its genitalia (JSM-567) differ slightly from those of G. ennia , suggesting that this specimen represents an undescribed species.

DISTRIBUTION: Brazil (AMNH, BMNH, CMNH, ZMH); Peru (BMNH); Ecuador (BMNH); Venezuela (AMNH).

DISSECTED: 3, Brazil, Pará , leg. A.M. Moss, BMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1406 ) ; 3, Brazil, Humayta , Río Madeira, Jul–Sep 1906, leg. W. Hoffmanns, BMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1407 ) ; 3, Brazil, Manacapurú , Mar 1926, leg. S.M. Klages, C.M. Acc. 8607, CMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-562 ) ; ♀, Brazil, Humayta , Río Madeira, Jul–Sep 1906, leg. W. Hoffmanns, BMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1408 ) ; ♀, Amazons , L. de Villafranca, coll. 477, BMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-295 ) .