Calisto bruneri Michener, 1949

Aguila, Rayner Nunez, Plasencia, Edelquis Oliva, Maravi, Pavel F. Matos & Wahlberg, Niklas, 2012, Cuban Calisto (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), a review based on morphological and DNA data, ZooKeys 165, pp. 57-105 : 74-76

Calisto bruneri Michener, 1949 stat. rev. Figs 10-122835435156, 5760-6266

Calisto bruneri Michener 1949: 2, Torre 1952: 62, Torre 1954: 120, Torre 1968: 17, Núñez 2009: 56

Calisto herophile bruneri Alayo and Hernández 1987: 40, Smith et al. 1994: 56, Lamas 2004: 207

Diagnosis.

Calisto bruneri differs from all other Calisto with similar color pattern, brown with red at the UNFW cell, by its pear shaped ocellus at the UNHW, ovoid in the others. Calisto bruneri was regarded in the past as subspecies of Calisto herophile ; however, besides the character given above, the first has uniformly colored UP of wings and three white dots at UNHW, whereas the second has the apical third of wings paler and four white dots. Their genitalia also differ, that of Calisto bruneri male has valvae with concave ventral margins and a more sinuous aedeagus in dorsal view, and its female genitalia has the ductus and corpus bursae almost equal in length, the ductus is almost twice the length of the corpus in Calisto herophile . The Hispaniolan Calisto pulchella Lathy, 1899, Calisto raburni Gali, 1985, Calisto schwartzi Gali, 1985 and Calisto tasajera González, Schwartz & Wetherbee, 1991 also have pear shaped ocelli but can be easily separated from Calisto bruneri , among other features, by the conspicuous reddish suffusion at the UN of wings that is absent in the latter.

Description.

FWL: 16-19 mm ♂, 18-21 mm ♀. UP of wings uniform dark grayish brown almost black, anal lobe with a small black dot (Figs 10, 11). Androconial patch indistinct in fresh specimens, approximately triangular with apex slightly angled, anterior margin not surpassing posterior margin of cell, about two fifths the length of FW (Fig. 35). UNHW background brown mixed with grayish white and, in less extent, pale yellow scales (Figs 12, 28). UNHW ocellus pear shaped and narrow. Post discal area on UNHW with three white dots at M1-M2, M2-M3, M3-Cu1, the first one smaller and sometimes absent in rubbed specimens. Male genitalia with tegumen about two thirds the length of uncus, slightly curved (Fig. 43); uncus broad at basal third, tapering gradually from the middle toward apex, arched at apical third, base with a small ventral notch; valvae base very broad; digitiform projection of valvae narrow and short with ventral margin concave; aedeagus sinuated in dorsal view with a left curve both at basal and apical half, the first one more pronounced. Female genitalia with dorsal crown tall (Fig. 51); corpus bursae somewhat narrow, near equal in length to ductus bursae.

Type material.

Holotype♂: Oriente (currently Holguín), Moa, 20°39'23"N, 74°56'34"W, 24-27 February 1948, F. de Zayas & J. Ferrás. AMNH, not examined. Paratypes 6 ♂, 1 ♀: same data as for holotype (5 ♂, 1 ♀); same locality as for holotype 13-22 April 1945, J. Acuña (1 ♂). MCZ, CFZ, examined.

Additional material.

13 ♂, 9 ♀. Holguín: same data as for holotype: (1 ♀); Moa, El Johnson 300 m, 20°35'36.4"N, 74°59'9.9"W, Junio 1954, F. de Zayas & P. Alayo, genitalia in glycerin (1 ♀); same data as for anterior except 5/I/1968, S. L. de la Torre, genitalia ♀ in glycerin, slides RNA161/211/214(wings)/183/215/217(legs & labial palpus) (4 ♂, 3 ♀); Oriente (currently Holguín), Moa, Punta Gorda o Cayo del Medio, 20°37'44"N, 74°51'10"W, 6/I/1968, S. L. de la Torre, slide RNA255(legs & labial palpus) (1 ♀); Moa, Cayo Grande, 20°35'28.9"N, 74°46'52.6"W, 19/I/2009, R. Núñez & E. Oliva, genitalia in glycerin, slides RNA256(legs)/267(FW) (1 ♂); same data as for anterior except 24/I/2009, genitalia ♂ & ♀ in glycerin, slides RNA252/258(legs)/253 (wings)/254(legs & labial palpus), DNA vouchers PM07-15 (M032) & PM07-16 (M033) (4 ♂, 2 ♀); Moa, Yamanigüey 75 m, 20°34'45.9"N, 74°44'10.2"W, 24-27/IX/2009, R. Núñez, DNA voucher PM07-17 (M034) (2 ♂, 1 ♀); Sierra de Cristal, cerca de Estación La Zoilita 400 m, 20°37'41.7"N, 75°29'08.1"W, 15-20/II/2010, R. Núñez, DNA voucher PM07-21 (M038) (2 ♂). CZACC, MFP.

Distribution.

Calisto bruneri occurs in the western parts of the NSB Mountains (Figs 56, 57). Previous records gave a small distribution area around Moa town, including Punta Gorda, Holguín province, near the coast up to an altitude of 300 m in neighboring hills ( Michener 1949; Torre 1968). Its distribution is widened here about 10 km east to Cayo Grande, and 55 km westward to Sierra de Cristal at 450 m of altitude.

Immature stages.

Torre (1968) mentioned that females glued eggs to the substrate and that they are spherical and beige with orangish spots.

Habitat and biology.

The species inhabits rainforests, scrub forests (charrascales) and pine forests (Figs 60-62). Scrub forests have high levels of sun exposition and water loss, and Calisto bruneri has been observed to spend most time near the ground in the shade of shrubs. At Cayo Grande, Moa, the species was observed taking nectar from flowersof Scaevola wrightii , a local endemic shrub. Throughout its range, the species is replaced by Calisto herophile in areas where its habitat has been destroyed, mostly around towns and major roads.

Remarks.

Alayo and Hernández (1987) considered bruneri a subspecies of Calisto herophile arguing that UNHW ocellus shape was the only difference.Like previous authors ( Michener 1949; Torre 1968), Núñez (2009) considered it a valid species. Morphological and molecular support of its species status are discussed below.

DNA analysis of Calisto bruneri (4 specimens, 3 localities) showed an average divergence of 4.68% from Calisto herophile (5 specimens, 5 localities). Indeed Calisto bruneri forms a single well-supported monophyletic clade together with Calisto occulta , Calisto muripetens , Calisto bradleyi and Calisto herophile , and altogether sister to the group israeli-brochei-smintheus (Fig. 66). Furthermore, both nuclear and mitochondrial datasets suggest an earlier divergence of Calisto bruneri from sister taxa within the clade, diversifying later in the western part of the NSB Massif. Average COI distances between Calisto bruneri and Calisto occulta , Calisto muripetens and Calisto bradleyi are 4.94%, 5.52% and 5.52% respectively.