Pseudeuptychia languida austrina Nakahara and Lamas, 2018

Nakahara, Shinichi, Willmott, Keith R., Mielke, Olaf H. H., Schwartz, Johanna, Zacca, Thamara, Espeland, Marianne & Lamas, Gerardo, 2018, Seven new taxa from the butterfly subtribe Euptychiina (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) with revisional notes on Harjesia Forster, 1964 and Pseudeuptychia Forster, 1964, Insecta Mundi 639, pp. 1-38 : 16-17

Pseudeuptychia languida austrina Nakahara and Lamas , new subspecies

( Fig. 12 c–d, 13d–g , 16 )

Description and diagnosis. The male description below is based on Bolivian specimens, since no definitive southern Peruvian males of this taxon are known to us.

Male. Forewing length 22 mm (n = 1): Differs from the nominotypical subspecies in the following respects: curved portion of VHW postdiscal band in cells M 2 and M 3 less undulating, not reaching the ocelli in cells M 2 and M 3.

Female. Forewing length 21–22 mm (n = 2): Differs from the nominotypical subspecies in the following respects: white area of DFW does not extend above origin of Cu 1, and only slightly extends into discal cell or does not extend beyond cubital vein, this white area also does not extend beyond origin of Cu 2 where the discal band is located; white area of VFW same as that of DFW; VFW discal band crossing origin of Cu 2; curved portion of VHW postdiscal band in cells M 2 and M 3 less undulating, crossing origin of M 3 (two Bolivian females possess VHW postdiscal band passing distal of origin of M 3).

Types. Holotype. FEMALE: // PERU: MADRE de DIOS Cerro Pantiacolla, E slope nr. summit, ca. 4 km. ENE Shintuya ; 960–1030 m. 25.vii.1980 J. F. Douglass 1346// Allyn Museum Acc. 1980-19// ( MGCL, to be deposited in MUSM).

Paratypes. (7 ♀) Peru: Cuzco: Cosñipata Valley, Quebrada Quitacalzón , [13°1 ʹ S, 71°30 ʹ W], 1050 m, (Gibson, L.), 2 Feb 2010, 1 ♀ [MUSM-LEP-104270], ( MUSM) ; Quebrada Quitacalzón , [13°1 ʹ S, 71°30 ʹ W], 1100 m, (Kinyon, S.), 10 May 2012, 1 ♀ [MUSM-LEP-104271], ( MUSM) ; 31 Jan 2010, 1 ♀ [ MUSM- LEP-104267], ( MUSM); ( Lamas , G.) , 2 Feb 2010, 1 ♀ [MUSM-LEP-104268], ( MUSM) ; 1 ♀ ( Genitalia vial SN-16-67 ) [MUSM-LEP-104269], ( MUSM) ; 8 Nov 2007, 1 ♀ [MUSM-LEP-104266], ( MUSM) ; 24 Oct 2016, 1 ♀, ( MUSM) .

Other specimens examined. Bolivia: Cochabamba: Ipiri, Bosque Amazónico , [16°03 ʹ 26 ʺ S, 66°40 ʹ 45 ʺ W], (Vidaurre, T.), 18 Sep 2004, 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104265], ( MUSM) ; Yungas, Bosque Amazónico , [16 ° 02 ʹ 27 ʺ S, 66 ° 38 ʹ 54 ʺ W], (Vidaurre, T.), 23 Sep 2004, 1 ♂ (Genitalia vial SN-16-66 S. Nakahara) [ MUSM- LEP-104264], ( MUSM) ; La Paz: Río Zongo , [16°3 ʹ 40 ʺ S, 68°1 ʹ 2 ʺ W], (Garlepp), 1 ♀, ( MNHU) ; Río Zongo , [16°3 ʹ 40 ʺ S, 68°1 ʹ 2 ʺ W], 1200 m, (Garlepp), 1895–1896, 1 ♀, ( MNHU) .

Etymology. The subspecific epithet is based on the feminine Latin adjective ‘austrina’, meaning southern, in reference to the southern distribution of this taxon compared to related taxa.

Distribution. This subspecies is known to date from Peru (Cuzco and Madre de Dios) and Bolivia (La Paz and Cochabamba).

Systematic placement and remarks. Based on existing museum specimens, we currently regard P. languida as likely representing three subspecies (but see discussion below): the nominate race of P. languida known from Colombia, with a large white patch on the DFW in the female and a strongly undulating VHW postdiscal band; an undescribed subspecies of P. languida from Ecuador to northcentral Peru (Huánuco), with an almost entirely dark DFW in the female and a strongly undulating VHW postdiscal band; and P. languida austrina n. ssp., from central Peru (Junín) to Bolivia (Cochabamba), with a white patch on the DFW in the female and less undulating VHW postdiscal band. However, given that we are not aware of any Ecuadorian females nor Colombian males of this species, we are unable to assess the range of the nominate race and the neighboring undescribed subspecies. Thus, here we limit the discussion to the southernmost subspecies, which is named and described herein, and wait to draw a conclusion regarding the taxonomic status of the aforementioned P. languida populations in the future.

Although P. languida austrina n. ssp. was initially regarded as a distinct species by GL, based on the less undulating VHW postdiscal band, the sequenced specimen (MUSM-LEP-104271; DNA voucher: KW-15-034) grouped with Ecuadorian P. languida (DNA voucher: LEP-10517) with trivial COI sequence difference (0.0018) (unpubl. data). In addition, the female and putative male genitalia ( Fig. 13 d–g) of this subspecies are identical to those of specimens from further north in Peru (Huánuco), with similar VHW postdiscal bands to the nominate subspecies. These facts influenced our decision regarding the taxonomic status of this taxon. However, one of the known Bolivian females from Río Zongo (in MNHU, with the label “ Euptychia languida Btl. det. T.G. Howarth. 1961.”) exhibits slight phenotypic differences in comparison with Peruvian females, especially in terms of the position of VHW postdiscal band, which reaches the ocelli in cells M 2 and M 3. The other female from the same site is similar to southern Peruvian females in that the VHW postdiscal band passes an area just distal of the origin of M 3. The phenotype of the former specimen corresponds with two Bolivian males in the MUSM from Cochabamba. However, given that males and females of Bolivian specimens are not from the same site, combined with the lack of known southern Peruvian male specimens, we are unable to confidently evaluate differences between the Peruvian population and the Bolivian population, and also the phenotypic stability of the Bolivian population. Therefore, we restricted the type series to southern Peru, but given the small phenotypic difference, which could simply be broadly clinal, we currently consider the Bolivian specimens to represent the same taxon as that found in southern Peru. It should also be noted that two male specimens figured in D’Abrera (1988: 759) from the NHMUK, one from Chanchamayo, Peru and the other from Bolivia,, possess a white patch on the DFW, in contrast to the Bolivian males in the MUSM. Based on the less undulating VHW postdiscal band, we tentatively identify both specimens figured by D’Abrera (1988) as also representing P. l. austrina n. ssp. It remains to be determined whether the presence of white on the DFW is variable within or between populations. Clearly, a number of taxonomic questions remain in this genus, which can only be answered once new material and DNA sequence data become available.

Figures

Figure 12. Pseudeuptychia specimens (dorsal on left, ventral on right). a) Pseudeuptychia hemileuca syntype female. b) Pseudeuptychia cuzquenya n. sp. holotype female. c) Pseudeuptychia languida austrina n. ssp. (MUSM-LEP 104264). d) Pseudeuptychia languida austrina n. ssp. holotype female.

Figure 13. Pseudeuptychia genitalia. a) Female genitalia of Pseudeuptychia hemileuca syntype. b) Lamella antevaginalis in ventral view of P. hemileuca syntype. c) Lamella antevaginalis in ventral view of P. cuzquenya n. sp. d) Male genitalia in lateral view of P. languida austrina n. ssp., with tip of uncus shown above. e) Phallus in lateral view of P. languida austrina n. ssp. f) Female genitalia of P. languida austrina n. ssp. g) Lamella antevaginalis in ventral view of P. languida austrina n. ssp. (illustrated genitalia: Lee D. Miller M-9056 for P. hemileuca; SN-16-65 for P. cuzquenya n. sp.; SN-16-66 and SN-16-67 for P. languida austrina n. ssp.).

Figure 16. Distribution maps of the euptychiine taxa discussed herein