Argyrogrammana halli, Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik & Casagrande, Mirna Martins, 2015

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 : 233

Argyrogrammana physis phyton ( Stichel, 1911)

( Figs 11–12 , 51 )

Two males of this subspecies were collected in 2013 and one in 2014, all in a small natural clearing on the top of the hill, around two meters from the ground. The species flew short distances and rests below small leaves, around 9:00h. At the same site, two males of A. bonita were collected flying in the middle of the afternoon in 2013.

This subspecies is similar to A. halli sp. nov. and A. gallardi sp. nov., however, it is distinguished from the former by the narrower wings and large orange area in forewing upperside, whereas from the latter by its larger size, absence of small black spots on the orange ground from hind wing upperside, and male genitalia with a short valvae, without a membranous median area ( Fig. 51 ) (see the diagnosis of A. halli sp. nov. and A. gallardi sp. nov.). Furthermore, A. physis phyton flies in a different hour of the day. The specific validity of A. physis phyton has some support by the available evidence: the male genitalia, illustrated for a Ecuadorian specimen by Hall & Willmott (1995, fig. 19), is very similar to the examined by us ( Fig. 51 ), and both are distinct from the illustration provided by Brévignon & Gallard (1995, fig. 8) for a specimen of A. physis physis from French Guiana, especially by the short and triangular valva and the long anterior projection of saccus in A. physis physis . Additionally, the male of A. physis phyton has larger orange areas in the upperside of the wings, a longer subapical blue patch in forewing upperside and a developed submarginal orange area in forewing underside when compared with A. physis physis ( Brévignon & Gallard 1995, fig. 19, Hall & Willmott 1995 figs 3a, b). However, the presence of two undescribed subspecies of A. physis mentioned by Hall & Willmott (1995) prevents us from taking any taxonomic action until those specimens are examined.

In a study conducted at Parque Estadual do Chandless, Acre, Brazil ( Mielke et al. 2010) this taxon was misidentified as Calospila rhesa (Hewitson, 1858) .

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.