Elasmia perses ( Druce, 1900 ) Becker, 2021

Becker, Vitor Osmar, 2021, A review of the Neotropical moth genus Bardaxima (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae: Nystaleinae), with special reference to the species occurring in Brazil, Zoologia (e 63526) 38, pp. 1-14 : 12

Elasmia perses ( Druce, 1900) comb. nov.

Figs 29, 30, 72–74

Heterocampa perses Druce, 1900: 516 . Lectotype female, [ BRAZIL]: Amazonas , Manaus (NHMUK), herein designated [examined].

Bardaxima demera Schaus, 1901: 271 . Lectotype female, GUYANA: Georgetown , Demerara (Schaus) (USNM), designated by Schintlemeister (2016: 154) [examined]. Synonymized by Draudt (1932: 915).

Diagnosis. Male ( Fig. 29) FW length 17–22 mm (38–50 mm wingspan), female ( Fig.30) FW length 24–26 mm (54–60 mm wingspan).FW dorsally whitish, densely dusted fuscous; a small blackish dot at end of cell, a round, whitish patch at apex, containing a small, triangular, black mark. HW fuscous.Distal margin of 8 th male sternite ( Fig. 74) falcate, proximal margin convex, sinuous. Male genitalia ( Fig. 72): uncus constricted along middle, expanded to a broad head distad. Socii half as long as uncus, arms tapered distad to a sharp tip. Valva subtriangular, broad basally; costa narrow, straight; sacculus ill-defined; transtilla arms half as long as valva, curved ventrad, sharp pointed, ventral margin serrate. Aedoeagus ( Fig. 73) long, expanded from middle to apex; vesica spinulate.

Material studied. Both lectotypes, 5 males (g.s. 4159, 5618), 3 females ( VOB); 2 males ( AMC) .

Distribution. Costa Rica, Guianas, throughout Brazil (Amazonas) as far south as Santa Catarina.

Remarks. Both taxa were described from an unspecified number of females. The original description of H. perses was presumably based on a single female in the NHMUK, here designated as lectotype (see above). According to the male genitalia, this species certainly does not belong in Bardaxima . The presence of a digit-shaped transtilla is shared, in the Nystaleinae , with the species currently included in Elasmia Möschler, 1886 , the reason for the new combination.