Fueguina araucana Ramos-Gonzalez & Parra

I. Ramos-Gonzalez, Mario, Zamora-Manzur, Carlos, Saladrigas Menes, Dania & E. Parra 1, Luis, 2019, The Trichopterygini (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) of Austral South America: description of new species from Chile, ZooKeys 832, pp. 91-111 : 102-103

Fueguina araucana Ramos-Gonzalez & Parra sp. n. Figures 7, 8, 15, 16, 21

Diagnosis.

This species can be easily distinguished from F. varians (Butler) and F. celovalva Parra by its ashy forewings, crossed by dark-brown stripes, and a less-developed saccular process. Externally, it differs from F. magallanica Parra by its antemedial and postmedial bands, which are less angular in F. araucana . Can be distinguished from congeners by three other characters: the presence of disjointed subtriangular lateral processes in the juxta, the large subrounded apical indention, which extends approximately through half of valva, and having a globular corpus bursae which is short and subequal to the length of ductus bursae.

Description.

Male (Fig. 7). Head: antennae filiform, subapically broadened; palpi porrect, slightly tilted up covered by straight piliform dark-brown scales and 1.5 times larger than eye diameter; frons and vertex covered with imbricated flattened whitish and dark-brown scales. Thorax: patagia covered by juxtaposed flattened whitish and dark-brown scales; tegulae covered by dark-brown scales splashed with black scales, piliform scales on the posterior region. Tibial formula 0-2-4. Forewings: background color ashy; medial and Cu1 veins framed by three elongated blackish spots, between postmedial and subterminal bands; termen rounded, with piliform light-brown scales; basal band blackish, curved, slightly zigzagging towards the inner margin; antemedial band dark brown, sinuous, which is thinner towards the costa and inner margin than in its medial sector; postmedial band sinuous and wide, formed by two brown-orange stripes mottled with dark brown and framed with blackish-brown scales; subterminal band dark brown, diffuse, cut off on its costal third by an ashy apical spot; discal spot present and blackish. Hindwings: same size as in females, subrectangular, ashy-brown, with a digitiform lobe extended over the base of anal margin; discal spot not visible. Wing venation (Fig. 21): forewing with two accessory cells; hindwing with Sc+R1 and Rs connected by a transverse vein towards one-third before the end of the cell; Rs and M1 pedunculated; M2 absent and M3 near Cu1; Cu1 is near the angle of the cell; Cu2 weak, one-fifth before the angle of the cell; lobe crossed by straight A1 and slightly curved A2; discal cell polygonal and extend for half of wing surface. Male genitalia (Fig. 15): valvae subrectangular, costa strongly sclerotized with rounded and setose apex, deep subrectangular apical notch, approximately half the length of valvae; cucullus projected in the apex of anterior edge, sacculus present and spine-like; saccus rounded; juxta with subquadrangular base and M-shaped posterior apex, with two disjointed lateral processes that have setose subtriangular apex and extends at the height of transtilla; uncus glabrous and straight. Aedeagus tubular; vesica armed with three cornutus. Female (Fig. 8): similar to males, but with filiform antennae slighter and subrectangular hindwings without lobe on the anal margin. Female genitalia (Fig. 16): ductus bursae striated and subequal in length to corpus bursae; corpus bursae globular, membranous; cestum present, subrectangular and strongly sclerotized; posterior apophyses longer than anterior ones.

Type material.

Holotype: 1 ♂, pinned, Chile, Araucanía, Malleco, R.N. Malalcahuello-Nalcas, Corralco, 09-XII-2014, leg. L.E. Parra, "AMLP 0139" [genitalia slide], “UCCC_MZUC_Lep_0031” [ID code], "Holotype Fueguina araucana " [red handwritten label] (MZUC-UCCC); Allotype: 1 ♀, pinned, Chile, Malleco, Río Blanco III-1951, leg. L.E. Peña, "Especie 23 H" [ID code, female], "AMLP 0138" [genitalia slide], "Allotype Fueguina araucana " [red handwritten label] (MZUC-UCCC).

Paratypes: 1 male, 3 females. Chile: Malleco: Curacautín, Termas de Río Blanco, 1050-1300 m, 21/24-II-1954, leg. L.E. Peña (1 ♀) (MZUC-UCCC). Cautín: Pucón, Termas de Río Blanco, II-1951, leg. L.E. Peña, "Especie 23 M" [ID code, male], "AMLP 0093" [wing slide] (1 ♂, 1 ♀) (MZUC-UCCC); Pucón, Termas de Río Blanco, III-1951, leg. L.E. Peña (1 ♀) (MZUC-UCCC).

Distribution.

This species occurs between Malleco and Cautín provinces. It is distributed in parts of Maule and Valdivian Forest biogeographic provinces, Subantarctic subregion, Andean region.

Flight period.

Specimens were captured in December, February and March.

Etymology. The species name is dedicated to the Araucanía region, Chile, the locality where all specimens were collected.