Ernsta Grishin

Zhang, Jing, Brockmann, Ernst, Cong, Qian, Shen, Jinhui & Grishin, Nick V., 2020, A genomic perspective on the taxonomy of the subtribe Carcharodina (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Carcharodini), Zootaxa 4748 (1), pp. 182-194 : 185-186

Ernsta Grishin , gen. n.

http://zoobank.org/ 8301DAE5-F4D8-4EE8-BFDC-BFF4BCE2A8E9

Type species: Pyrgus colotes Druce, 1875 ( Fig. 2a ).

Diagnosis. Morphologically similar to Spialia Swinhoe, 1912 , where these species were placed previously. Keys to 5, 15, 21 (exclude antithesis of 25), or thesis 11 in de Jong (1978: 28 & 30), constituting his colotes , delagoae , and dromus species groups. Differs from its relatives by the following characters. Ventral hindwing with straight median white band not separated into sports, i.e., white spot in cell RS-M 1 (space 6) joins central spot (discal cell) to the outer (and not inner) spot in cell Sc+R 1 -RS (space 7), but in many species of Spialia this band either broken into spots or directed basad at costa. While Spialia species lack costal fold in males, some Ernsta species have costal fold ( colotes species group). Species with costal fold are in addition characterized by the central white discal cell spot on dorsal forewing not closer to discocellular spot than to the basal cell spot and no two white spots are present above over the central cell spot (to distinguish from asterodia species group of de Jong (1978) that does not belong to Ernsta ) and hindwing submarginal pale spots in cells M 1 -M 2 & M 2 -M 3 (spaces 4 & 5) offset basad from the rest of the submarginal spots. Species without costal fold either lack the basal white spots in discal cell on dorsal forewing, however, some white scales along cubital vein may be present forming a narrow streak (the delagoae species group), or on dorsal forewing in CuA 2 -1A+2A cell (space 1B) the outer lower median spot absent and inner lower median spot not smaller than the outer upper median spot ( dromus species group). In male genitalia, uncus not deeply incised, gnathos dorsally joined to tegumen, if gnathos free (in some species from the delagoae group), then coecum of aedeagus shortened or absent. In DNA COI barcode region, a combination of the following base pairs is diagnostic: A46T, C278T, T280A, T282T (not C), T301T (not C), T349A, G353G (not T), A481A (not T or C), and 529(not T).

Derivation of the name. The name is a feminine noun in the nominative singular. It honors Ernst Brockmann of Lich, Germany and his unstoppable passion for Hesperiidae in general and the Grizzled skippers in particular. Without his enthusiasm, help, encouragement and specimens this study would not be accomplished.

Species included: Encompasses delagoae , colotes , and dromus species groups, as they were defined by de Jong (1978). Full species list is given below. These are mostly African species, only three of which ( E. colotes , E. mangana , and E. bifida ) cross the Red Sea into the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, and one ( E. zebra ) is recorded from the northwestern Himalayas.

The phylogenetic trees ( Fig. 1 ) suggest that this genus has split into two groups: one contains the type species of the genus, and the other one is named here as a subgenus.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Phylogenetic trees of Carcharodina. The trees are constructed from nucleotide sequences of protein-coding regions from: a. nuclear genome; b. Z-chromosome; c. mitochondrial genome. Statistical significance values are shown by each node. d. COI barcode distance diagram is shown to emphasize on close relationships within Carcharodina. In panels a) and b), vertical green (yellow-shaded) line defines genera: each clade crossed by the line is a genus in our treatment; vertical thin gray (blue-shaded) line defines subgenera. Branches in Carcharodina are colored by genus.

FIGURE 2. Specimens of Ernsta and Agyllia. Dorsal and ventral views are on the left and right, respectively. DNA sample IDs are given, other data are in the Tab. S1: a. Ernsta colotes the type species of the genus Ernsta gen. n., NVG-18054F06; b. Ernsta delagoae, the type species of the subgenus Delaga subgen. n., NVG-18054F08; c. Agyllia agylla, the type species of the genus Agyllia gen. n., NVG-19039F03.