Argyrogrammana brevignoni Dolibaina & Dias

Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik & Casagrande, Mirna Martins, 2015, Argyrogrammana Strand (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) from Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, Acre, Brazil, with the description of four new species, Zootaxa 4028 (2), pp. 227-245 : 238-240

Argyrogrammana brevignoni Dolibaina & Dias , sp. nov.

( Figs 27–28 , 58 )

Diagnosis. Argyrogrammana brevignoni sp. nov. belongs to the “ trochilia complex” ( Hall & Willmott 1995, 1996) and can be distinguished from most of the species of this complex by the forewing underside with a black spot at the center of the third yellow band before the end of discal cell, and small iridescent blue markings bordering proximally the fifth yellow band between R2–M2. These features are only shared with A. pastaza Hall & Willmott, 1996 , a species only known to occur in cloud forests of eastern Andes from Peru to Ecuador, between 900–1700m of elevation ( Hall & Willmott 1996). Additionally, A. brevignoni sp. nov. can be distinguished from A. pastaza by the forewing upperside with all blue bands less inclined; third blue band thinner; fourth blue band very thin on M1– CuA1, producing a large black area between fourth band and the subapical blue band; two iridescent blue spots in anal margin connecting the first two and the third and fourth blue bands (i.e. “2-2” pattern, Hall & Willmott 1996); marginal line ochre; forewing underside with third, fourth and fifth yellow bands thinner than other bands, distal margin of the third and fourth yellow bands straight, fifth band ending toward anal margin proximal to the tornus; and the sixth, subapical yellow band complete and uniform in width; hind wing upperside with the fourth blue band very thin on M1–CuA1, producing a large black area between fourth and fifth blue bands and a large black area in the subapical area; hind wing underside with the third and fourth yellow bands connected by a rectangular yellow spot between Sc+R1 and the origin of Rs, sixth yellow band proximal to the apex at the costal margin and farther from the outer margin; male genitalia with the anterior projection of saccus thicker; valva basally broader, with a large ventral concavity, a longer distal margin, and an almost straight dorsal margin with an irregular median indentation.

Description. Head: vertex pale yellow, black between antennae and with a central circular yellow spot; frontoclypeus yellow with a black U-shaped extending laterally to the eyes; eyes glabrous, brown, with a black median band; antenna black, with yellow scales at the base of each segment; club black, tip rufous red; labial palpus first and second segments pale yellow, second segment dorsally black, third segment completely black.

Thorax: dorsally black and ventrally yellow; legs yellow with distal black stripes.

Forewing upperside: length 13.5mm; apex slightly obtuse; ground color black; five diagonal iridescent blue bands, slightly inclined, the first four bands extending from Radius to 2A, the last subapical from R3+4 to CuA1; fourth band very thin in M1–CuA1, then larger than other bands; two small iridescent blue spots along the anal margin connecting the first and second and the third and fourth blue bands in a “2-2” pattern sensu Hall &Willmott (1996), the last spot extending to the middle of the fourth band; thin iridescent grayish blue submarginal line, concave near apex, with a short proximal projection at M1; thin ochre marginal line; fringes dark brown, white in R4–M1, M3–CuA1 and CuA2–2A.

Forewing underside: ground color black; costal margin grayish, and anal margin creamy yellow; six thin diagonal yellow bands, first three bands from the Radius to 2A, fourth from R1 to 2A, fifth from R3+4 to half of CuA2–2A, sixth subapical from apex to CuA1; third band with a black spot close to the end of the discal cell; fifth band bordered proximally by two to four iridescent blue markings; iridescent blue grayish submarginal line broken on the veins; large in R4–M1 and almost reaching the subapical yellow band in M1–M2; marginal line yellow; fringe as in upperside.

Hind wing upperside: apex angled; ground color black, grayish in the anal area; five vertical iridescent blue bands, first to fourth bands from Radius to 2A, fifth from Rs to CuA1; fourth blue band thin from M1 to CuA1, broader than other bands after CuA1; from 2A a longitudinal iridescent blue band extending to mid of the fourth band, joining the first four transverse bands; iridescent blue grayish thin submarginal line slightly broken on the veins, proximally bordered by two thin ochre spots in CuA1–CuA2 and CuA2–2A; marginal line ochre; fringe dark brown, white in M1–M2, M3–CuA1, CuA1–CuA2 and CuA2–2A.

Hind wing underside: ground color black, grayish on proximal half of costal area and in the whole anal area; six thin transverse yellow bands, first and second bands from the costal margin to 2A, third from Sc+R1 to 2A, fourth and fifth from Rs to 2A and sixth from Rs to CuA1; third and fourth bands connected by a yellow spot between Sc+R1 and the origin of Rs; small rectangular yellow spot in Sc+R1–Rs near fifth yellow band; sixth band separated from the submarginal iridescent line; thin iridescent blue grayish submarginal line interrupted on the veins; thin yellow marginal line; fringes as in upperside.

Abdomen: terga black, laterally lighter than medially; sterna yellow with a median black line.

Genitalia: tegumen dorsally squared and laterally triangular; lateral membranous areas between the tegumen and the uncus triangular; tegumen ventral arms fused with saccus dorsal arms both evenly narrow; anterior projection of the saccus thick, shorter than tegumen; uncus shorter than tegumen, distal margin slightly concave; gnathos “C”-shaped, hooked at the tip; valva broad at the base, with a large concavity in the ventral margin, distally pointed, tip of the valvae connected by a short sclerotized process, dorsal margin with an irregular indentation at the middle; fultura inferior at the base of and between the valvae; aedeagus thick, curved to the left, almost four times longer than valvae, with several thin and long cornuti.

Types. Holotype male with the following labels: / HOLOTYPUS / 20–27-VI-2013, RIO MOA, P[AR]Q[UE]. NAC[IONAL DA]. SERRA DO DIVISOR (SEDE), MÂNCIO LIMA, ACRE, BRAZIL, MIELKE, CASAGRANDE, CARNEIRO, DIAS & DOLIBAINA LEG. 7º 26’ 52” S, 73º 39’ 55” W / GEN. PREP. DOLIBAINA 2013 / DZ 23.389 / Holotypus Argyrogrammana brevignoni Dolibaina & Dias det. 2015 / DZUP.

Etymology. This new species is named after Christian Brévignon, in recognition of his extensive contribution to the taxonomy of the Riodinidae from French Guiana.

Ethology. A single male was collected in 2013 while it was in a circular flight about three meters from the ground around 15:00h. At the same time and place two further specimens were observed but not collected.

Distribution. This new species is only known from the type locality in the north region of the PNSD, northwest of Acre, close to the border between Brazil and Peru.

Comments. This is more one species described from Amazonian region belonging to the “ trochilia complex”. The specimen from PNSD was initially associated to A. trochilia (Westwood, [1851]) due to similarities of the male genitalia given by Brévignon & Gallard (1995, fig. 12) and Hall & Willmott (1996, fig. 16). Hall & Willmott (1996) stated that specimens of A. trochilia from the base of the eastern Andes have the blue hind wing bands separated in the tornal area and reduced orange submarginal lines in the forewing upperside, a similar phenotype found in A. brevignoni sp. nov. However, even the specimens of A. trochilia with the phenotype described by Hall & Willmott (1996) have the forewing upperside with the blue transverse band joining the first three diagonal blue bands and reappearing below the fourth blue band in a pattern “3-1”, as in the type specimen of A. trochilia , while A. brevignoni sp. nov. has a pattern “2-2” for this character.

Argyrogrammana brevignoni sp. nov. shares some interesting morphological characters with A. pastaza and A. saphirina (Staudinger, [1887]). For example, the forewing underside has a black spot on the third yellow band close to the end of the discal cell in all three species; the position and development of the upperside blue bands is similar to A. saphirina , and the iridescent blue marks surrounding proximally the fifth yellow band in the forewing underside is shared with A. pastaza . The male genitalia of A. brevignoni sp. nov. is more similar to A. pastaza and A. trochilia , however, it differs by the conspicuous ventral concavity of the valva, which is exclusive to A. brevignoni sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 23 – 42. Species of Argyrogrammana collected at the PNSD 23 – 24. A. praestigiosa. 25 – 26. A. johannismarci. 27 – 28. A. brevignoni sp. nov. holotype. 29 – 30. A. rameli. 31 – 34. A. willmotti sp. nov.. 31 – 32. Male holotye. 33 – 34. Female allotype. 35 – 38. A. iracyi. 35 – 36. Male. 37 – 38. Female. 39 – 42. A. saulensis tunari comb. nov. 39 – 40. Male. 41 – 42. Female. Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURES 56 – 62. Male genitalia of species of Argyrogrammana collected at the PNSD. 56. A. praestigiosa. 57. A. johannismarci. 58. A. brevignoni sp. nov. holotype. 59. A. rameli. 60. A. willmotti sp. nov. holotype. 61. A. iracyi. 62. A. saulensis tunari comb. nov. Left to right: dorsal view of uncus, lateral view of tegumen, saccus, uncus, gnathos, valva and aedeagus, and ventral view of valva. Scale bar = 1 mm.