Brypoctia punctifer ( Hampson, 1898 )

Naydenov, Artem E., Yakovlev, Roman V., Delvalée, Jean-Paul, Deknuydt, Francis & Penco, Fernando C., 2021, Description of the female of Brypoctia punctifer (Hampson, 1898) (Lepidoptera: Cossidae: Zeuzerinae), Ecologica Montenegrina 45, pp. 6-11 : 7-10

Brypoctia punctifer ( Hampson, 1898)

Figs 1–9

Duomitus punctifer Hampson, 1898 , Trans. Entomol. Soc. London: 259–260. Type locality: Grenada.

Material examined: Martinique: 2 ♂♂, summit of Morne Bigot 460 m, above Gallochat, 08.iv.2013, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ; 1 ♂, same locality, 04.iv.2014, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ; 2 ♂♂, same locality, 25.iv.2015, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ( Figs 1−2 ) ; 1 ♂, same locality, 14.v.2016, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ; 1 ♂, same locality, 29.iv.2016, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ; 2 ♂♂, Morne Césaire , Plateau Courbaril, 537 m, above Balata, 18.iv.2015, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ; 1 ♂, Mount Sinai near Gros Morne on D1, 11.iv.2011, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ; 1 ♂, Sainte Luce, D 17 exit to the village on the Fond Henry side (Altitude Deville), 04.iii.2017, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ; 1 ♂, Caravelle peninsula before Château Dubuc, 15.v.2015, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ; 1 ♀, under the summit of La Garanne, 500 m, above the « Le Prêcheur », 04.iv.2013, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ( Fig. 3 , 5 ) ; 1 ♀, summit of Morne Bigot , 460 m, above the Gallochat, 25.iv.2015, coll. Jean-Paul Delvalée ( Fig. 4 ) . Guadeloupe: 1 ♀, Baie- Mahault , Jarry, 14.xi.2020, LEPANT20-462, coll. Francis Deknuydt.

The type material and further material from the Natural History Museum ( London , U.K.) and Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France) is detailed in (Naydenov et. al. 2020) .

Description

Adult male is detailed by Hampson (1898).

Adult female: length of fore wing 23−28 mm; wingspan 50−60 mm; antennae filiform, light- brown; head and thorax densely covered with light-grey scales; abdomen also covered with less dense layer of light-grey scales; fore wing elongated, wider than that of male, pattern smoky (more smoky than in male) with poorly visible dark transverse band discally; hind wing white with hardly noticeable grey undulated pattern.

Male genitalia is detailed in (Naydenov et. al. 2020).

Female genitalia: papillae anales elongated, slightly acute, covered with short setae closer to proximal end; ovipositor very long, with long setae in middle of proximal half; apophyses anteriores significantly shorter than apophyses posteriores; ostium poorly submerged; antrum oval, well sclerotized; ductus wide, short; bursa big, bag-like, oval, with star-shaped signum on lateral surface; thin duct ending with small bulla passing from lateral surface of bursa (opposite to signum), ductus seminalis thin, flowing into bursa next to branch of bulla duct.

Diagnosis

In the female genitalia, among the studied representatives of the genera, the genus Brypoctia is most close to the genus Psychonoctua , as the specimens of the genera Allocryptobia and Ceuroma have a longer ovipositor and a much smaller bursa, the bulla duct in these genera passes from the ductus, while in Brypoctia and Psychonoctua the duct passes directly from the bursa. Together with this, the female genitalia of B. punctifer have such unique characters as the antrum shape and size and the star-like structure of the signum.

Distribution. Lesser Antilles: Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe and Nevis.

Flight period. All year round, but more abundant from March to May.

Figures

Figure 5. B. punctifer, female genitalia with increased images of papillae anales and signum: under the summit of La Garanne, 500 m, above the «Le Prêcheur».

Figures 1−4. B. punctifer, adults (all from the private collection J.-P. Delvalée): 1. male, summit of Morne Bigot 460 m, above Gallochat; 2. male, summit of Morne Bigot 460 m, above Gallochat; 3. female, under the summit of La Garanne, 500 m, above the «Le Prêcheur»; 4. female, summit of Morne Bigot, 460 m, above the Gallochat.

Figures 6-7. B. punctifer in nature, Martinique (photo by Régis Delannoye): 6. male, Morne Bellevue, municipality of Marigot, 650 m; 7. female, Fonds Cérémaux femelle La Trinité, 13.08.2013.

Figures 8−9. Habitats of B. punctifer: 8. under the summit of La Garanne, 500 m, above the «Le Prêcheur», 04.04.2013 (photo by J.-P. Delvalée); 9. Morne Bigot, 450 m (photo by Philippe Ravat).