Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904)

Vargas, Hector A., Solis, M. Alma & Vargas-Ortiz, Marcelo, 2022, The South American moth Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904) (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae) rediscovered after more than a century of anonymity, ZooKeys 1085, pp. 129-143 : 129

Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904)

Calocalpe mochica Dognin, 1904: 361.

Rheumaptera mochica : Parsons et al. 1999.

Type material examined.

Peru. The male lectotype and one female paralectotype are here designated (Figs 1 , 2 ). The lectotype and its genitalia slide are deposited in the USNM and bear the following labels: Aréquipa/Pérou; Calocalpe / Calocalpe mochica /Dgn/type ♂ [Dognin handwriting]; Calocalpe /(pallidata)/Warren 04 [Dognin handwriting]; Dognin/Collection; Type No./32520/ USNM [red label]; Genitalia Slide ♂/by B. Proshek/ USNM 116,127 [green label]; USNMENT/01769001. The paralectotype and its genitalia slide are deposited in the USNM and bear the following labels: Aréquipa/Pérou; Calocalpe / Calocalpe mochica /Dgn/type ♀ [Dognin handwriting]; Dognin/Collection; Type No./32521/ USNM [red label]; USNMENT/01769017.

Additional material examined.

Chile - Parinacota Province • 2 ♂♂; Socoroma, 18°16'03"S, 69°36'01"W, December 2017, H.A. Vargas leg., ex larva Senna birostris var. arequipensis , October 2017; [genitalia slide numbers] HAV1423, 1454; IDEA • 5 ♀♀; same data as previous; [genitalia slide numbers] HAV1424, 1440, 1455, 1456, 1457; IDEA • 2 ♂♂; same locality, August 2009, H.A. Vargas leg., ex larva Senna birostris var. arequipensis , June 2009; [genitalia slide numbers] HAV1335, 1439; IDEA • 1 ♂; same locality, December 2008, H.A. Vargas leg., ex larva Senna birostris var. arequipensis , October 2008; [genitalia slide number] HAV1438; IDEA • 1 ♂; Chapiquiña, 18°23'34"S, 69°31'55"W, October 2015, H.A. Vargas leg., ex larva Senna birostris var. arequipensis , August 2015; [genitalia slide number] HAV1333; IDEA • 1 ♀; same data as for preceding; [genitalia slide number] HAV1339; IDEA • 1 ♂; Belén, 18°28'01"S, 69°30'37"W, October 2015, H.A. Vargas leg., ex larva Senna birostris var. arequipensis , August 2015; [genitalia slide number] HAV1337; IDEA • 1 ♀; same data as previous; [genitalia slide number] HAV1334; IDEA .

Identification.

The identification of the Chilean specimens as R. mochica was based on comparisons of their male genitalia with those of the lectotype.

Wing pattern (Figs 3 , 4 ) The forewing pattern of the Chilean specimens of R. mochica is slightly variable; the area between the postmedial line and the termen can be mostly light whitish-brown or mostly dark greyish-brown. This variation is not associated to sex.

Male segment VIII (Fig. 5 ) Tergum a narrow, longitudinal plate; anterior third triangular; distal two-thirds a narrow stripe; anterior margin widely rounded, laterally projected; posterior margin rounded. Sternum a narrow triangular longitudinal plate; anterior margin widely excavated, laterally projected; posterior margin narrowly excavated.

Male genitalia (Figs 6-9 ) Uncus well-sclerotized, triangular. Tegumen with two lateral, sclerotized stripes separated by a wide membranous area. Saccus triangular. Juxta trapezoidal with a narrow, drop-like ventral projection and a wide, U-shaped dorsal projection. Labides long, narrow, setose, finger-like, distal half slightly dilated. Valva mostly membranous; costal sclerotized band not reaching apex; sacculus well-sclerotized, with a narrow, dorsal, sclerotized stripe arising from near the apex, sacculus projection narrow, strongly distally curved, with a small basal process. Phallus cylindrical, slightly longer than the costal margin of the valva; vesica with group of spine-like cornuti shorter than half of the phallus length.

Female genitalia (Figs 10 , 11 ) Papillae anales membranous, with setae. Apophyses posteriores rod-shaped, about 2.2 times length of papillae anales. Apophyses anteriores about 0.8 times the length of apophyses posteriores, with a short ventral arm near base. Lamella antevaginalis as two transverse, sclerotized stripes, not connected medially, laterally continuous with ventral arm of apophyses posteriores. Antrum membranous. Ductus bursae almost as long as antrum, sclerotized. Corpus bursae in two sections; posterior section narrow, sinuous, mainly membranous, with longitudinal folds ventrally and numerous spine-like signa arising from a dorsal sclerotized plate; anterior section membranous, spherical. Ductus seminalis a membranous projection at base of corpus bursae.

DNA barcodes

(Fig. 12 ). Five DNA barcodes (658 bp length) were obtained (GenBank accessions: OK484459, OK484460) from the specimens collected at Socoroma. Two haplotypes, with 0.2% (K2P) divergence between them, were detected. The sequences of R. mochica clustered as sister to the Neotropical congener Rheumaptera affirmata ( Guenée, [1858]) in the ML analysis, with 3.6-3.8% (K2P) divergence.

Host plant

(Fig. 13 ). Senna birostris var. arequipensis ( Fabaceae ) is the first host plant recorded for R. mochica .

Geographic distribution.

(Fig. 14 ) The three localities in northern Chile represent new, expanded distribution records for R. mochica .

Figures

Figure 1. Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904), male lectotype, dorsal view. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 2. Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904), female paralectotype, dorsal view. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figure 5. Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904), tergum (right) and sternum (left) of male abdominal segment VIII. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Figure 12. Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904) and congeners, maximum likelihood tree of DNA barcodes. Numbers indicate bootstrap values (1000 replicates).

Figure 13. Senna birostris var arequipensis (Fabaceae), host plant of R. mochica.

Figure 14. Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904), geographic distribution. Star indicates type locality (Arequipa, Peru), circles indicate new distribution records in northern Chile.

Figures 3 - 4. Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904), male adults from northern Chile. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 6 - 11. Rheumaptera mochica (Dognin, 1904), genitalia 6 male genitalia, ventral view, phallus removed 7 basal process of sacculus projection (rectangle in Fig. 6) 8 phallus 9 cornuti 10 female genitalia in ventral view 11 signa (rectangle in Fig. 10). Scale bar: 1 mm.