Bardaxima terminalba Jones, 1908

Becker, Vitor Osmar, 2021, A review of the Neotropical moth genus Bardaxima (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae: Nystaleinae), with special reference to the species occurring in Brazil, Zoologia (e 63526) 38, pp. 1-14 : 10-12

Bardaxima terminalba Jones, 1908

Figs 23–25, 66–68

Bardaxima terminalba Jones, 1908: 168 . Holotype male, BRAZIL: SP, São Paulo (Jones) (NHMUK) [examined].

Navarcostes oakley Schaus, 1939 . Holotype male, BRAZIL: “St. Catherines” (SC) [no further data] ([Hoffmann]) (USNM) [examined]. Synonymized by Moser and Thiaucourt (2006: 698).

Diagnosis. Male ( Figs 23, 25) FW length 18–20 mm (42–46 mm wingspan), female ( Fig. 24) FW length 23 mm (52 mm wingspan). FW dorsally whitish, minutely mottled dark gray; narrow white patch on dorsum and along termen mixed with blackish scales.HW gray,lighter towards base; cilia white. Male genitalia ( Fig. 66): uncus short, blunt, distal margin slightly concave. Socii long, twisted ventrad at distal third. Valva short, broad,with costa slightly curved; sacculus broad, as long as valva, with pair of teeth at middle. Aedoeagus ( Fig. 67) long, thin; vesica with a strong cornutus.

Material studied. The holotypes of both taxa; 7 males (g.s. 5616), 3 females ( VOB); 7 males, 2 females ( AMC) .

Distribution. Brazil, in the cool, high elevations of the Atlantic Forest, from São Paulo to Santa Catarina.

Remarks. This is the smallest species in the genus; very similar to Navarcostes species, the reason it was originally included in that genus; however, it is easily distinguished by the antenna: short and long pectinated in the Navarcostes species. The printed locality label “St. Catherines, Brazil ”, of N. oakley , is typical of all the material collected by Fritz Hoffmann, a German naturalist, who collected in Santa Catarina and in Espírito Santo, Brazil, in the beginning of the 20 th century.