Digonis gungnir Ramos-González & Parra, 2024

Ramos-González, Mario I., Venegas-González, María Francisca, Zamora-Manzur, Carlos & Parra, Luis E., 2024, Revision of the genus Digonis (Lepidoptera, Geometridae): new species and new genera, ZooKeys 1216, pp. 173-200 : 173-200

Digonis gungnir Ramos-González & Parra sp. nov.

Figs 2 M , 6

Type material.

Holotype. Chile — 1 male; pinned; Coquimbo, Elqui, Huanta ; 1936 (year without more data); E. Ureta leg.; “ Holotype Digonis gungnir ” [red handwritten label]; “ 5024 ” [Museum ID]; “ Mirg- 019 ” [genitalia slide]; MNNC . Paratypes. Chile — 1 male; pinned; Llanquihue Prov., Maullín ; II-1943; S. Barros leg.; MZUC-UCCC • 1 male; pinned; Magallanes Prov., Punta Arenas, Tres Puentes ; XII-1952; n. n. leg.; MZUC-UCCC .

Diagnosis.

Externally, D. gungnir Ramos-González & Parra , sp. nov. is characterized by straw-colored wings and a straight postmedial band with pale points bordered in dark brown at veins R 4, R 5, M 1, M 2, and M 3 on the forewings. Male genitalia feature a presence of a poorly defined juxta, a slightly arched spear-shaped furca, and dense dorsal spines on the furca.

Description.

Male (Fig. 2 M ). Head: antennae slightly serrate; palpi long, one-third longer than the eye diameter, porrect; frons and vertex covered with juxtaposed whitish scales. Thorax: patagia covered with elongated whitish scales; tegulae covered with very pale yellowish piliform scales; tibial spur formula 0-2 - 4. Forewings: subtriangular with acute apex and outer margin excavated between apex and M 3, with slight mucronate extension; fovea absent; background color straw-colored; antemedial band diffuse, marked by three light brown points at the level of radial, cubital, and anal veins respectively; medial band diffuse, light brown, slightly arched and more noticeable between the discal spot and the costa, zigzagging to the anal margin; postmedial band straight, diffuse, light brown, with five white points bordered in dark brown at the level of veins R 4, R 5, M 1, M 2, and M 3, visible only on ventral surface; subterminal band diffuse and demarcated only by dark spots in subapical region, at the level of medial veins and on anal margin; discal spot visible, punctiform, and blackish. Hindwings: subrectangular with small mucronate apex at the level of M 3; background color pale ashy; postmedial band light brown, slightly smoky, marked by elongated light brown spots at the level of veins, only visible on ventral surface; discal spot visible. Male genitalia (Fig. 6 ). Uncus conical, apex club-shaped; gnathos U-shaped with an expanded apex forming a pair of spinous lobes; valvae subrectangular, costa strongly sclerotized with a distal lobe before the apex, rounded, and cucullus extended beyond the apex of the costa; transtilla bifid; saccus subrounded; juxta poorly defined, pointed anteriorly, with a central depression, and with a furca curved to the left, long, surpassing the height of the transtilla, slightly arched spear-shaped, densely spiny dorsally, apex rounded; anellus sclerite weakly defined, only two subtriangular sclerites near the base of the furca are visible. Aedeagus tubular, straight; vesica without cornuti.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology.

The species name is a noun in apposition, referring to Odin’s spear (the chief god in Norse mythology), due to its longer and more armed furca within the genus. Gungnir is treated here as a neuter noun.

Distribution.

This species is found between the provinces of Elqui and Magallanes. It is distributed in parts of the biogeographic provinces of Coquimbo and Santiago, Central Chilean subregion; Maule, Valdivian Forest, and Magellanic Forest, Subantarctic subregion, Andean region.

Flight period.

Specimens were captured in December and February. There are no records for other months.

Figures

Figure 2. Habitus of Digonis adults A Digonis aspersa (male in dorsal view) B Digonis aspersa (male brown-morpho in dorsal view) C Digonis aspersa (male brown-morpho in ventral view) D Digonis aspersa (female in dorsal view) E Digonis cervinaria, stat. rev. (male olivaceous-morpho in dorsal view) F Digonis cervinaria, stat. rev. (male olivaceous-morpho in ventral view) G Digonis cervinaria, stat. rev. (male fuscous-morpho in dorsal view) H Digonis cervinaria, stat. rev. (female in dorsal view) I Digonis cervinaria, stat. rev. (female olivaceous-morpho in ventral view) J Digonis cervinaria, stat. rev. (female brown-morpho in ventral view) K Digonis punctifera (male in dorsal view; photo courtesy of A. Hausmann) L Digonis punctifera (female in dorsal view) M Digonis gungnir Ramos-González & Parra, sp. nov. (holotype in dorsal view) N Digonis apocrypha Ramos-González & Parra, sp. nov. (holotype in dorsal view) O Digonis apocrypha Ramos-González & Parra, sp. nov. (holotype in ventral view) P Phasmadigonis alba, comb. nov. (male in dorsal view) Q Gugnelve butleri Ramos-González & Parra, sp. nov. (holotype in dorsal view) R Gugnelve butleri Ramos-González & Parra, sp. nov. (allotype in dorsal view). Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 6. Genitalia of Digonis gungnir Ramos-González & Parra, sp. nov. (holotype) A male genitalia in ventral view B aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.