Dysschema tarsoi Moraes

Moraes, Simeão De Souza & Duarte, Marcelo, 2015, Description of four new species of the tiger moth genus Dysschema Hübner (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini, Pericopina), Zootaxa 4006 (3), pp. 540-550 : 546-548

Dysschema tarsoi Moraes sp.nov.

( Figs. 5–6 , 23–29 )

Diagnosis (♂). Tegulae with three maculae: being two basal, yellow, and one white, on the distal portion. Costal margin of forewing with the basal quarter red, followed by three yellow maculae. Genitalia with arms of uncus not fused in the base, valva without lacinia absent, valvula membranous and extended beyond the cucullus, everted portion of the ejaculatory duct with sclerotized plate.

Description (♂). Head. Frons and labial palp brown, vertex brown with tuffs of white scales on the regions anterior and posterior to the scape and posterior to the ocellus. Thorax. Predominantly brown. Prothoracic collar with two yellow maculae; prothoracic coxa brown. Tegulae with three maculae: two basal, yellow, the first near the outer margin and the second near the inner margin; the third, white, on the distal portion. Forewing brown, costal margin with the basal quarter red, followed by three yellow maculae; two whitish semihyaline maculae: (i) subtriangular on the medial region, between the trunk of R vein and 1A+2A, (ii) oval, constituted by five dots on the subapical region between R4 and CuA1; submarginal band constituted by white dots between R4 and M3 and between CuA1 and 1A+2A; two maculae on the base of wing, reddish on the trunk of R vein and beige on the trunk of CuA; ventral surface with the same dorsal pattern. Hindwing with the costal and outer margins brown, discal region semihyaline and veins lined with brown scales; region of closure of discal cell lined with brown scales; ventral surface with the same dorsal pattern but with the proximal portion of costal margin red and a few red scales spaced along the costal margin. Abdomen. Dorsally brown; ventrally yellow with the porterior margin of each sternite lined with brown scales. Tuffs of reddish scales at the terminal portion of the abdomen. Genitalia ( Figs. 23–29 ). Tegumen subretangular in dorsal view, with the anterior margin concave and acute posterolateral projections. Uncus bifid, not fused to the tegumen; arms of uncus divergent and free in the anterior portion, not ventrally projected. Valva subretangular; costa lacking medial apodeme (lacinia), distal apodeme absent; sacculus developed, consisting of a fold on the inner surface of the valva, oriented towards distal-medial axis; harpe subretangular and narrow; cucullus digitiform; valvula digitiform and membranous, posteriorly

extended beyond the cucullus. Transtilla sclerotized, not articulated with the valva and not fused to the juxta. Juxta sclerotized, subquadrate. Saccus without anterior projections. Subscaphium smooth. Aedeagus rectilinear and smooth; ejaculatory bulb rounded, foramen lateral; vesica with one lobe, smooth; everted portion of the ejaculatory duct with sclerotized plate. Female. Unknown.

Etymology. The specific epithet is granted in honor to Tarso Mori Madeira, friend of the senior author for his hospitality during a visit to the California Academy of Science, when this new species was discovered.

Distribution. Based on the six males avaiable for this study, the distribution of D. tarsoi is restricted to Mexico.

Remarks. So far this species is known only by male specimens. Dysschema tarsoi shows a wing pattern similar to D. hilara , however the morphology of the genitalia is similar to those species related to D. marginalis (Walker, 1855) .

Type series. HOLOTYPE ♂: MEXICO. Guerrero: Oscar Theodor Baron col., 1 ♂ ( BMNH); PARATYPES: MEXICO. Guerrero: Oscar Theodor Baron col., 5 ♂♂ ( BMNH).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. New species of Dysschema Hübner. 1 – 2. Dysschema uriasi Moraes sp. nov., holotype (Campos do Jordão, São Paulo, Brazil), dorsal and ventral view, respectively. 3 – 4. Dysschema wayneri Moraes sp. nov., holotype (Campos do Jordão, São Paulo, Brazil), dorsal and ventral view, respectively. 5 – 6. Dysschema tarsoi Moraes sp. nov., holotype (Guerrero, Mexico), dorsal and ventral view, respectively. 7 – 8. Dysschema amapoarum Moraes & Duarte sp. nov., holotype (Cantareira, São Paulo, Brazil), dorsal and ventral view, respectively. Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 23 – 29. Male genitalia of Dysschema tarsoi Moraes sp. nov., paratype (Guerrero, Mexico). 23. Genital capsule, lateral view. 24. Tegumen and uncus, dorsal view. 25. Genital capsule, frontal view without the valva. 26. Genital capsule, lateral view without the valva. 27. Valva, lateral view of inner surface. 28. Genital capsule, ventral view. 29. Aedeagus, lateral view. Abbreviations. ccl: cucullus, ejc blb: ejaculatory bulb, hrp: harpe, jxt: juxta, p. l. pjc: posterolateral projection, scc: saccus, scl: sacculus, tgn: tegumen, ttl: transtilla, unc: uncus vlv: valva, vsc: vesica, vvl: valvula. Scale bar 1 mm.