Argyrogrammana gallardi 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 : 235-237

Argyrogrammana gallardi Dolibaina & Dias , sp. nov.

( Figs 17–20 , 54 , 63 )

Argyrogrammana amalfreda [misidentification]; Brévignon & Gallard, 1995. p. 394 (male), p.404–405: figs 11–12 (male dorsal and ventral), p. 406 (male); Brévignon & Gallard, 1998, p. 483.

Diagnosis. Argyrogrammana gallardi sp. nov. can be distinguished from all species belonging to the “ amalfreda complex” by combination of the following characters: forewing with apex pointed; forewing upperside with light blue subapical patch in R4–M3 thin and reduced in R4–M1, ground color orange, covering a large portion of the wing and with black spots in 2A-anal margin; hind wing apex rounded; hind wing upperside almost totally orange, with innumerous thin black spots; male genitalia with triangular valvae and a membranous area at the middle; distal margin of the uncus straight with a short median indentation.

Description. Head: vertex pale yellow; frontoclypeus dorsally black, ventrally pale yellow with a median black band; eye glabrous, brown, with a black median band; antenna black, with yellow scales at the base of each segment; club black; labial palpus pale yellow, third segment black.

Thorax: dorsally orange and ventrally pale yellow; legs pale yellow with three black stripes on each tibia.

Forewing upperside: length 10.4–10.8mm (10.4mm on holotype); apex pointed; ground color black; proximal half of the wing orange from the discal cell to anal margin, extending distally for the anal area and with a short rectangular patch on costal margin near the end of the discal cell; discal cell with four circular black spots and a black thin line at the end of the discal cell; four thin black spots in CuA2–2A, two near the origin of CuA2 and two aligned with the end of the discal cell; two black stripes in CuA2–2A one before the origin of CuA2 and the other near the end of the orange area; light blue subapical patch in R4–M3, reduced in R4–M1; three black spots in 2A-anal margin, at the base, middle and end of the orange area; thin silvery-blue submarginal line broken on the veins; outer margin black, orange in R4–M1, M3–CuA1 and CuA2–2A; fringe black.

Forewing underside: ground color dull orange, brighter in the middle of the postdiscal area; several black spots on basal, discal and postdiscal areas as in upperside. submarginal large broken black band from costa to anal margin, bordered distally by an orange band in the apical area, and proximally by an irregular orange band from R4 to the anal margin; silvery-blue submarginal line broken, absent between CuA2 and the anal margin; fringe as in upperside.

Hind wing upperside: apex rounded; ground color orange; discal and basal areas with a tiny black spot on CuA1–CuA2 and two larger spots on CuA2–2A; discal cell with two black spots and a thin line at the end of the cell; postdiscal band with black spots on Rs–M1, M2–M3, M3–CuA1 and CuA2–2A; submarginal band bordered by thin black lines; two additional submarginal black lines proximal to the silvery-blue submarginal, from costa to the anal margin, both broken on the veins; thin silvery-blue submarginal line broken on the veins, more conspicuous than those of the forewing; fringe orange and black.

Hind wing underside: ground color dull orange; several black spots in basal, discal and postdiscal areas, distributed as the spots on the upperside; postdiscal spots bordered by orange scales; silvery-blue submarginal line absent; outer margin with a faint orange band from apex to tornus, bordered proximally by a black band broken on the veins; fringe as in upperside;

Abdomen: tergum I black; other terga mostly orange; intersegmental area black; pleura black; sterna pale yellow with black bands.

Genitalia: tegumen dorsally squared and laterally triangular; distal margin of the tegumen with a slightly median indentation; lateral membranous areas between the tegumen and the uncus triangular; tegumen ventral arms evenly narrow fusing with saccus dorsal arms, it also evenly narrow; anterior projection of the saccus longer than tegumen, proximally thinned; uncus as long as tegumen, distal margin with a short median indentation; gnathos “C” shaped, hooked at the tip; valvae triangular, with a rounded dorsal projection and a median membranous area; aedeagus thick, three and a half times longer than valvae, and with innumerous thin and long cornuti.

Female (tentative determination, see discussion). Head: uniformly yellow; eye glabrous and brown; antenna dorsally black, ventrally yellow, with black bands at the base of each segment; club mostly black, with the two last segments orange; labial palpus yellow, with third segment brown, thin and short.

Thorax: dorsally yellowish orange; ventrally pale yellow; legs pale yellow with black bands.

Forewing upperside: length 9.7mm; ground color distally orange and proximally yellow; five thin black bands, broken on the veins and with spots arranged in a “zig-zag” pattern, one basal, two discal and two postdiscal bands; thin silvery-blue submarginal line broken on the veins surrounded by black spots, larger than in male; outer margin orange; fringe black-white.

Forewing underside: ground color distally orange and proximally yellow; black submarginal band from costal margin to tornus; remaining black spots as in upperside, but larger; silvery-blue submarginal line as four small spots in R3–M1, M1–M2, M3–CuA1 and CuA2–2A over large black spots, larger than in the upperside; fringe as un upperside.

Hind wing upperside: ground color distally orange and proximally yellow; five thin black bands with spots arranged in a “zig-zag” pattern, one basal, two discal and two post-discal bands; thin silvery-blue submarginal line from the apex to the tornus, broken on the veins; fringe black-white.

Hind wing underside: ground color distally orange and proximally yellow; black spots as in upperside, but larger; large submarginal black band from the apex to the tornus, broken on the veins; silvery-blue submarginal line absent; fringe as in upperside.

Abdomen: dorsally yellow, intersegmental area black; pleura black, with yellow spots; sternum pale yellow.

Genitalia: sterigma triangular and sclerotized, formed by the lamellae ante and postvaginalis, both narrow; bursae copulatrix seventeen times longer than the sterigma; ductus bursae almost entirely sclerotized, with a small anterior plate with variable degree of sclerotization; corpus bursae rounded with a pair of conical signum asymmetrically placed; papilla analis oval in lateral view, with a short and rounded dorsal projection and a thin anterior ventral projection.

Types. Holotype male with the following labels: / HOLOTYPUS / 23–30-VIII-2014, RIO MOA, P[AR]Q[UE]. NAC[IONAL DA]. SERRA DO DIVISOR (SEDE), MÂNCIO LIMA, ACRE, BRASIL, MIELKE, CASAGRANDE, CARNEIRO, DIAS, DOLIBAINA, SIEWERT & SALIK LEG 7º 26’ 52” S, 73º 39’ 55” [W] / DZ 31.014 / Holotypus Argyrogrammana gallardi Dolibaina & Dias det. 2015 / DZUP.

Paratypes: BRAZIL— Acre: Mâncio Lima (Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, Porção Norte), 10– 21.IX.2011, D. Dolibaina & D. Moura leg. 1 male (DZ 21.634). FRENCH GUIANA – Cayenne: Régina (pk 71 Rte de l’Est), 3.IX.1991, J. Navatte & H. De Toulgoët, leg. 1 male (JYG 343).

Etymology. This new species is named after Jean-Yves Gallard, in recognition of his contribution in the taxonomy of the Riodinidae from French Guiana.

Ethology. In 2011 a single male was collected in the third day of sampling at the hilltop while resting on a liana leaf, about five meters from the ground around 15:30h. The female here illustrated was collected in the same day, while flying slowly about one meter from the ground, close to the Moa River, around 16:30h. The holotype was collected in 2014 flying with specimens of A. celata Hall & Willmott, 1995 about two meters from the ground around 18:00h.

Distribution. This uncommon species is currently known only from two males collected in the north region of the PNSD, northwest of Acre, on the border between Brazil and Peru, and from a paratype collected near to Régina, Cayenne , French Guiana.

Comments. Brévignon & Gallard (1995: 404, 405: fig. 11) illustrate a male and a female specimen, therein identified as A. amalfreda (Staudinger, [1887]). As noted by Hall & Willmott (1995), the male specimen differs significantly from Staudinger’s [1887] type. The male specimen in fact represents a new species, here described as A. gallardi sp. nov. The female specimen illustrated by Brévignon & Gallard (1995: 394) is apparently nonconspecific with the male. The female collected in 2011 at the same day and near the place where the male paratype from PNSD was collected is here tentatively matched with this species due to its black spots pattern of both wings similar to males. Nevertheless, considering the great dimorphism found in almost all species of the genus and that some Argyrogrammana species are known only from one of the sexes, we chose a conservative action do not including this female in the type series of A. gallardi sp. nov.. Despite the spots pattern on the wings, similar to species from “ stilbe complex”, its genitalia morphology ( Fig. 63 ) has several differential features of those females belonging to “ stilbe complex” found at the PNSD ( Figs 64–66 ), as the rounded lamella ante and postvaginalis and signa widely nonaligned.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 22. Species of Argyrogrammana collected at the PNSD. 1 – 2. A. alstonii. 3 – 4. A. nurtia ludibunda. 5 – 6. A. pulchra. 7 – 8. A. bonita. 9 – 10. A. amalfreda. 11 – 12. A. physis phyton. 13 – 14. A. halli sp. nov. holotype. 15 – 16. A. celata. 17 – 20. A. gallardi sp. nov. 17 – 18. Male holotype. 19 – 20. Female (tentative determination). 21 – 22. A. aparamilla. Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURES 46 – 55. Male genitalia of species of Argyrogrammana collected at the PNSD. 46. A. alstonii. 47. A. nurtia ludibunda. 48. A. pulchra. 49. A. bonita. 50. A. amalfreda. 51. A. physis phyton. 52. A. halli sp. nov. paratype. 53. A. celata. 54. A. gallardi sp. nov. paratype from PNSD. 55. A. aparamilla. 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.

FIGURES 63 – 66. Female genitalia of species of Argyrogrammana collected at the PNSD. 63. A. gallardi sp. nov. (tentatively determination). 64. A. willmotti, sp. nov. allotype. 65. A. iracyi. 66. A. saulensis tunari comb. nov. Top to bottom lateral view of papila analis and ventral view of sterigma and bursae copulatrix. Scale bar = 1 mm.