Amauta procera (Boisduval, [1875])

García-Díaz, José De Jesús, Espinoza-Sanabria, Bernardo A., Worthy, Robert, González, Jorge M., Janzen, Daniel H. & Hallwachs, Winnie, 2024, Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Costa Rica, Zootaxa 5481 (2), pp. 151-202 : 154

1. Amauta procera (Boisduval, [1875])

( Figs. 1C, 1D , 10A, 10B , 12A ) (BIN: BOLD:AAE1998)

Castnia procera Boisduval, [1875] ; Boisduval, [1875]. Spec. Gén. des Lép. Hét. Tome 1: Sphin., Sesi., Cast., p. 503.

Graya panamensis Buchecker, [1899] ; Buchecker, [1899]. Sist. Ent. Insect. Class. Gen. Spec. Pars 6, p. 15, fig. 20.

Castnia cacica f. procera ; Strand, 1913, in Seitz. Die Gross-Schmett. der Erde vol. 6, p. 8.

Castnia cacica ab. bivittifera ; Strand, 1913, in Seitz. Die Gross-Schmett. der Erde vol. 6, p. 8.

Castnia cacica ab. macula ; Strand, 1913, in Seitz. Die Gross-Schmett. der Erde vol. 6, p. 8.

Amauta procera ; Houlbert, 1918. Étud. Lép. Comp. 15, pp. 62, 131, 675, pl. CDXXXIX, fig. 3781.

Amauta cacica procera ; Miller, 1995, in Heppner. Castnioidea: Castniidae : Castniinae , Checklist part 2, Atlas Neo. Lep. , p. 133.

Amauta cacica procera ; Lamas, 1995. Revta. Per. Ent. 37, p. 75.

Amauta procera ; Worthy et al., 2022. Zootaxa 5194 (3), p. 333, figs. 3A, 6A–C, 12A.

General comments. A large species that shows little sexual dimorphism. However, the thickness of the bands and spots, as well as the rounded shape of the forewings in females, facilitate their differentiation from the males. This taxon has a brownish-black base color and has a similar pattern on both wing surfaces in both sexes. It has a thin creamy-white band in the postdiscal region of the forewing, an orange band in the postdiscal region of the hindwing, and a band with 4–5 orange spots in the submarginal region. This castniid was described based on a single specimen whose labels indicate that it came from Mexico; however, Boisduval ([1875]) stated that Monsieur Paul de l’Orza received said specimen from Guatemala ( Van den Berghe et al. 2020; Worthy et al. 2022). A specimen deposited in the Field Museum of Natural History, bears labels that indicate that it came from Mexico ( González et al. 2010). Apart from these two specimens, no others are known from those two countries, raising doubts about their origin; they were perhaps mislabeled. For some decades, procera was considered to be a subspecies of A. cacica due to only slight differences in wing pattern between the taxa; however, the male genitalia differ considerably, so Worthy et al. (2022) elevated it to species level.

Ecology and behavior. Larvae of A. procera feeding on plantains ( Musa spp. : Musaceae ) have been detected in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica and are considered a pest ( Suárez-Capello et al. 2002; Worthy et al. 2022). As adults, males and females have been observed in Costa Rica and Panama, feeding on inflorescences of Heliconia pogonantha Cufod. ( Heliconiaceae ) ( Miller & Sourakov 2009; Worthy et al. 2022; iNaturalist 2023). Amauta procera is a crepuscular species and has been sighted late in the afternoon in some Nicaraguan locations ( Van den Berghe et al. 2020). According to the label information of some specimens studied, and in iNaturalist (2023), several specimens have been sighted/collected during twilight and at night, attracted to mercury vapor light traps, this has also been reported with other Amauta species in South America ( Miller, 1986; Worthy et al., 2022). Gernot Kunz (pers. comm.) observed, on two different occasions, specimens of A. procera attracted to light sources during the night at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, Golfito, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Distribution and biogeography. This species is found in Central America, and is allopatrically distributed with the closely related A. cacica from Colombia ( Worthy et al. 2022). According to the biogeographic provinces of the Neotropical region proposed by Morrone et al. (2022), in Costa Rica A. procera flies in localities that belong to the Guatuso-Talamanca and Puntarenas-Chiriquí provinces of the Pacific dominion, but also in the Pacific Lowlands province of the Mesoamerican dominion, all in the Brazilian subregion. The species has been recorded from Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, but a few old specimens in the collections examined have labels showing no accurate data, but supposedly from Mexico, Guatemala or Brazil, information which is probably erroneous or unreliable ( Worthy et al. 2022). It has been reported from both the Pacific and Caribbean slopes in Costa Rica. The following is a list of Costa Rican provinces and the respective cantons where the species has been observed or collected: Alajuela: Alajuela, Guatuso, San Carlos, San Ramón, Upala; Cartago: Jiménez, Turrialba; Guanacaste: Tilarán; Heredia: Heredia, Sarapiquí; Limón: Guácimo, Limón, Pococí, Talamanca; Puntarenas: Buenos Aires, Coto Brus, Golfito, Osa, Puntarenas.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A: ♀, Corybantes veraguana veraguana, Heredia, Sarapiqui, Magsasay, 200m, 12 mayo 1994, C. Pineda, G. Vega, MNCR-A5055728 (MNCR); B: ♂, Amauta papilionaris amethystina, Costa Rica, Provincia de Limón, Limón, Nicholas Zakharoff gift (CAS) (photographs: Christopher C. Grinter); C–D: Amauta procera; C: ♂, Est. Hitoy-Cerere, 100m, R. Cerere, Res. Biol. Hitoy Cerere, Prov. Limón, G. Carballo, Jul 1991, L-N-184200, 643300, INBIOCRI001110672, MNCR-A1110672 (MNCR); D: ♀, Puntarenas, Sn. Vito, Las Cruces, Jardín Botánico, 24–27 Agosto 1987, L. D. Gómez, INBIOCRI001055983, MNCR-A1055983 (MNCR). Scale bar = 2cm.

FIGURE 10. A–B: Amauta procera; A: ♀, Golfito, Puntarenas, 19-II-2002 (photo: Gernot Kunz); B: ♂, Sarapiquí, Heredia, 06-III-2014 (photo: Matthew Grube); C: ♀, Prometheus zagraea zagraea, Osa, Puntarenas, 02-III-2012 (photo: GringoCurt); D–E: Divana diva diva; D: ♂, Puntarenas, Puntarenas, 27-V-2018 (photo: David Curlis); E: ♀, San Ramón, Alajuela, 27-V- 2010 (photo: John B. Schneider); F–G: Athis palatinus staudingeri; F: ♀, Golfito, Puntarenas, 08-II-2021 (photo: Chatelle Taylor); G: ♂, Aguirre, Puntarenas, 16-I-2020 (photo: Ted Armstrong); H: ♂, Athis analibiae, Talamanca, Limón, 09-V-2023 (photo: Heiner Ziegler); I: ♀, Athis clitarcha, Coto Brus, Puntarenas, 14-III-2020 (photo: Casey Owen); J: ♂, Athis inca inca, Sarapiquí, Heredia, 26-X-2018 (photo: Laurens Halsey).

FIGURE 12. Distribution maps of the genera Amauta (A), Athis (B, C), Corybantes and Mirocastnia (D), Divana (E) and Prometheus (F) in Costa Rica.