Godartiana astronesthes Lamas and Nakahara, 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 : 18-20

Godartiana astronesthes Lamas and Nakahara , new species

( Fig. 14–16 )

Praefaunula sp. n.: Lamas 1994: 180.

Praefaunula [n. sp.] Lamas MS ( Nymphalidae : Satyrinae 1471 ): Lamas 2004: 221.

Description. Male. Forewing length: 14.0–14.5 mm (n = 3)

Head: Eyes naked, with golden scales at base; first segment of labial palpi about half of third segment in length, whitish, adorned with golden long hair-like scales, second segment length almost twice as great as eye depth and covered with golden scales and white scales laterally, and with somewhat brownish hair-like scales along dorsal surface, ventrally adorned with long golden hair-like scales and some white long hair-like scales, about 3-4× as long as segment width, third segment about one-third of second segment in length and covered with golden scales; antennae approximately two-fifths of forewing length, with approximately 35 antennomeres (n = 1), distal 13–14 antennomeres composing club.

Thorax: Dorsally and laterally covered with golden scales and long golden hair-like scales; ventrally scattered with greyish scales.

Legs: Foreleg greyish, tarsus, tibia and femur almost same in length; midleg and hindleg with femur creamy, slightly paler than tarsus and tibia, tibia and tarsus dorsally greyish, ventrally brownish, tarsus and tibia adorned with spines ventrally, tibial spurs present at distal end of tibia.

Abdomen: Eighth tergite reduced, apparent only along basal margin of dorsal surface of eighth abdominal segment; eighth sternite appearing as two sclerotized regions.

Wing venation: Basal half of forewing subcostal vein swollen; base of cubitus swollen; forewing recurrent vein absent; hindwing humeral vein developed; origin of M 2 slightly nearer M 1 than M 3.

Wing shape: Forewing subtriangular, apex rounded, costal margin slightly convex, outer margin convex, inner margin straight, but rounded towards thorax near base; hindwing slightly elongate, rounded, costa slightly convex, angular near base towards thorax, outer margin very slightly undulating, inner margin slightly concave near tornus, anal lobe convex, slightly round.

DFW: Ground colour chocolate-brown, slightly translucent, thus subtly revealing ventral ocelli.

DHW: Ground colour similar to forewing, slightly translucent, thus subtly revealing ocelli.

VFW: Ground colour chestnut brown; area basal to postdiscal band mottled with dark brown patches; narrow sinuate dark-brown postdiscal band extending from radial vein towards inner margin until reaching vein 2A, curved outwards, traversing area distal to discall cell; concolorous sinuate submarginal band extending from apex towards tornus, terminating at 2A-Cu 2 (apparently variable), area distal to submarginal band somewhat ocher; concolorous marginal band, extending from apex towards tornus, almost parallel to submarginal band, area distal to marginal band somewhat greyish; fringe light brownish; five submarginal ocelli in cells R 5, M 1, M 2, M 3, and Cu 1 (ocellus in cell Cu 1 absent in three males: MUSM-LEP 104242, 104243, 104252), those in cells M 1 and M 2 white-pupilled black spot ringed with orangish, remaining ocelli sometimes lack black spot and ring somewhat indistinct.

VHW: Ground colour similar to forewing; general wing pattern similar to forewing, except as follows: postdiscal and submarginal bands occasionally appear fused to each other at anterior and posterior ends; six submarginal ocelli in cells Rs, M 1, M 2, M 3, Cu 1, and Cu 2, those in cells M 1 to Cu 1 white-pupilled black spot ringed with orangish, ocelli in Rs sometimes lack black spot and ring somewhat indistinct, ocelli in Cu 2 sometimes very small.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 15 a–c): Tegumen appears somewhat semi-circular in lateral view, dorsally curved in lateral view, ventrally almost straight in lateral view; uncus about twice as long as tegumen in length, posterior half curved downwards, posterior end appears as downwardly projecting flange, sparse hairs visible on dorsal surface; brachia long, about 1.5× longer than uncus, apical point higher than uncus in lateral view, slightly curved inwards in dorsal view; combination of ventral arms from tegumen and dorsal arms from saccus curved near appendices angulares; appendices angulares present; saccus similar to uncus in terms of length; juxta present; valvae setose; bristle-like hairs present on distal side of valvae; distal margin concave, ventral margin longer than dorsal margin, ventral margin convex, dorsal margin basal to costa concave; phallus roughly straight, similar in length with tegumen plus uncus, distinction between phallobase and aedeagus unclear, cornuti absent; ventral surface of anal tube apparently not sclerotized.

Female. Forewing length: 14.5 mm (n = 1).

Similar to male except as follows: female foretarsus divided into five distinct tarsomeres; forewing appears somewhat broader; ground colour somewhat paler.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 15d, e ): Lamella antevaginalis sclerotized, appearing as elongated subtriangular plate in ventral view; lateral plate of 8th abdominal segment sclerotized at posterior edge, anteriorly less sclerotized, fused with lamella antevaginalis at anterior margin; ductus bursae membranous, origin of ductus seminalis located at one-third distance from ostium bursae to corpus bursae, ductus bursae slightly sclerotized around origin of ductus seminalis; corpus bursae roughly circular in dorsal view, extending to fourth abdominal segment, with two signa located in middle, parallel to each other.

Types. Holotype. MALE: PERU, MD, S.N. Pampas del Heath, Refugio Juliaca 220 m 1257/6853 14.vi.92 G. Lamas // PAMPAS// Photographed By K. Willmott June 2015 // MUSM-LEP 104245// ( MUSM).

Paratypes. (11 ♂, 1 ♀) Peru: Madre de Dios: Río Heath, Pampas del Heath , [12°57′S, 68°53′W], 220 m, (Bohórquez, I.), 25 Jun 1987, 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104242], ( MUSM) ; Refugio Juliaca , [12°57′S, 68°53′W], 220 m, (Lamas, G.), 14 Jun 1992, 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104244], 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104246], ( MUSM) ; 15 Jun 1992, 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104249], ( MUSM) ; 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104251], ( MUSM) ; 1 ♂ (GENITALIA # MM-13, MUSM) [MUSM-LEP-104253], ( MUSM) ; 18 Jun 1992, 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104243], ( MUSM) ; 19 Jun 1992, 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104247], ( MUSM) ; 1 ♂ [MUSM-LEP-104248], ( MUSM) ; 1 ♂ [ MUSM- LEP-104250], ( MUSM) ; 1 ♂ (Genitalia vial SN-16-70 S. Nakahara ) [MUSM-LEP-104252] ; 1 ♀ (Genitalia vial SN-16-68 S. Nakahara ) [MUSM-LEP-104254], ( MUSM) .

Etymology. The specific epithet is a combination of the Greek neuter noun astron, meaning ‘star’, and the Greek feminine noun esthes, meaning ‘attire’, alluding to the ventral ocelli that are reminiscent of a starry sky, or ‘clothed with stars’. This specific epithet is treated as a latinized feminine noun in apposition.

Distribution. This species is so far only known from Pampas del Heath, Madre de Dios, Peru.

Systematic placement and diagnosis. Godartiana appears to be a distinctive lineage within Euptychiina, being sister to a large clade containing many species-rich genera such as Caeruleuptychia , Cissia , Taygetis , etc. (Espeland et al. in review). Godartiana astronesthes n. sp. can be confidently placed in Godartiana based on its rippled/mottled ventral wing pattern and well-developed brachia (brachia longer than uncus). Godartiana astronesthes n. sp. is similar to G. armilla but is distinguished by the combination of following characters: 1) relatively small adult size; 2) DFW androconial patch absent or indistinct; 3) presence of rather prominent ocellus in VFW cell M 2, in addition to variable presence of ocellus in cell Cu 1; 4) presence of prominent pupil in submarginal ocelli of VFW and VHW; 5) presence of ocher area distal to VFW and VHW submarginal band.

Remarks. Zacca et al. (2017) illustrated high intraspecific variation in several Godartiana species, especially in apparent association with seasonally varying precipitation. Godartiana astronesthes n. sp. has only been sampled in June (all known specimens were collected from 14–19 June 1992, except for a single specimen from 25 June 1987), which is the driest month of the year at the type locality ( Cañas and Waylen 2012). Given the absence of sampled specimens from wetter months of the year, it is impossible to assess whether seasonally induced phenotypic variation exits in this species, and if such variation is found it may well influence the diagnostic characters provided above.

Figures

Figure 14. Godartiana astronesthes n. sp., adults. Top row, holotype male (MUSM-LEP 104245), dorsal on left, ventral on right; bottom row, paratype female (MUSM-LEP 104254), dorsal on left, ventral on right.

Figure 15. Godartiana astronesthes n. sp., genitalia. a) Male genitalia in lateral view. b) Valva in lateral view. c) Phallus in lateral view. d) Female genitalia with location of signa indicated on the right. e) Lamella antevaginalis in ventral view with intersegmental membrane (illustrated genitalia: SN-16-70 for male; SN-16-68 for female).

Figure 16. Distribution maps of the euptychiine taxa discussed herein