Vanewrightia kiesela Boppré, 2020

Boppré, Michael, Grados, Juan, Laguerre, Michel & Monzón, Julio, 2020, Vanewrightia gen. nov. - A Highly Variable Taxon of Neotropical Ctenuchina (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Arctiini) Revealed by Behavioral Traits, Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (5), No. 4, pp. 1-19 : 6-8

Vanewrightia kiesela Boppré sp. nov.

Figures 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , and 6A‒K

(u r n:l s i d:z o o b a n k.o r g:a c t: 3A D8 6D B3-8 4 1 4-4B E F - 8 4 6E - 4B689DCB8899)

Material Examined. PERU, 24 ♂♂ ( Figs. 2 and 3 ; see Table 2: PH01‒ PH 24) ; see also below.

Type Specimens. Specimen PH 23 ( Fig. 3A ) is designated as the holotype and is, with four paratypes (conservatively selected from one cluster only; PH 03, PH 05, PH 10, PH 24), deposited at MUSM. Note that not all characters of the holotype are typical for the species .

Description. Male. HEAD AND THORAX. Antennae bipectinate, shaft and rami dark gray, the scape with a white patch frontally. Frons white, vertex black with vivid yellow scales anteriorly and latero-basally. Palpi white with a black lateral line on each side. Patagia yellow or black. Tegulae black, sometimes with a central longitudinal yellow band. Thorax black. LEGS. Coxae pure white. Legs pure white with a dorsal dark gray longitudinal band. ABDOMEN. Above, dirty yellow, irrorated with dark gray scales, a median dark band, the anal tuft gray-bordered on each side with an off-white hair brush. Venter entirely white or gray. FOREWINGS. Upperside deep black with pointed apex and the following pattern: an oblique yellow band at the end of cell starting in the middle of the wing just before costa and abruptly finishing on vein CuA 2, sometimes with an irregular yellow patch occupying the basal third, slightly speckled with black scales. Length: 13.5‒15.0 mm (n = 13). Underside generally mirroring the pattern of the upperside but always showing some more yellow. HINDWINGS. Upperside vivid yellow or white, slightly paler on costal and anal area, with a wide black border from apex to tornus, or completely black. The bulge protruding distally from the yellow area into the black border centered on vein M 2, and the angled margin between veins CuA 1 and M 3 are diagnostic. Underside always with some more yellow or white as on upperside and extending to the inner margin. GENITALIA. Uncus long and narrow, slightly narrowed laterally at base and curved downward just before middle where it is larger in lateral view. Valvae moderately curved inwardly, slightly longer than uncus with a pointed and strongly sclerotized tip, slightly asymmetrical: the left one in ventral view slightly longer. A long translucent process covered with long hairs, reaching the tip of valvae. A triangular tooth pointing inside at the last third of valvae length. In lateral view the valvae are abruptly narrowed near extremity. Vinculum evenly rounded without any visible saccus. Juxta elongated, large at base and narrowing on top. Phallus cylindrical, slightly undulated, vesica with a unique scobinated process, a sclerotized thin bar more or less perpendicular to the main axis of the phallus. Variations: the vinculum varies from evenly curved as in the type to slightly angled and with or without a very small saccus (see also below).

Female. Unknown.

DNA Barcodes. In the neighbor-joining distance tree, the barcodes of the 18 specimens sequenced from Panguana form a cluster ( BIN BOLD: ADO9441 ; Fig. 13 ), with subgroups with sequence divergence of up to 1.8 %; the subgroups do not correspond with differences in wing pattern or locality.

Variation and Differential Diagnosis. The variation in appearance is striking ( Figs. 2 and 3 ); whether or not we have seen all variants remains unknown―we assume that further variants are to be found. This makes a description as well as determination fraught with uncertainty and currently does not permit to give a robust differential diagnosis of V. kiesela . The existence of further specimens/species belonging to Vanewrightia (see below) increases the problem which is reviewed in Discussion.

Three kinds of variants, each variable, can be recognized: 1) forewings black, basally with some yellow in addition to yellow band, hindwings with some yellow or white within black margin, 2) forewings black with yellow band, hindwings with some yellow or white within black margin, 3) forewings black with yellow band, hindwings entirely black. A fourth kind (forewings with ± yellow in addition to yellow band, hindwings black) might be expected but has not been found. See Discussion for a parallel in Chamaelimnas butterflies.

Similar-Looking Species. Not only closely related (see below) but also several un related moth and butterfly taxa, which resemble morphs of V. kiesela to a more or less high degree are considered in Discussion.

Biology. Largely unknown. Males are diurnal and attracted to sources of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (= PA-pharmacophagous) but not or only very rarely to artificial light.

Distribution. PERU, Huanuco and other regions, most likely also in other Latin American countries (see below).

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to Anita Kiesel who assisted in a more than commendable way in MB’s laboratory for over 30 yr; the extra miles she went were always greatly appreciated and her work is acknowledged with cordial thanks.

Figures

Fig. 1. Male Vanewrightia kiesela sp. nov. gathering pyrrolizidine alkaloids from dry Heliotropium indicum plant material put out as bait. Arrow points to uncoiled proboscis.

Fig. 2. Examples of variants of male specimens of Vanewrightia kiesela sp. nov., collected at pyrrolizidine alkaloid baits during the day in Panguana/Peru (PH), showing the surprisingly large range of variation within a single population, sorted according to the amount of yellow on the upperside wings; left upperside, right underside. Details on specimen codes inTable 2. Scale bar = 1 cm.

Fig. 3. Extreme variants of Vanewrightia kiesela sp. nov., arrows pointing to shared diagnostic characters; see text;left upperside,right underside.Details on specimen codes inTable 2. Scale bar = 1 cm.

Fig. 5. Genitalia of the male holotype of Vanewrightia kiesela sp. nov.(PH23).(A) dorsal, (B) ventral, (C) lateral,(D) phallus, (E) peculiar process on tegumen near junction with valvae (encircled in A‒C; arrows in E) enlarged.Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 13. Neighbor-joining distance tree of 27 COI sequences of Vanewrightia gen.nov. and 38 of its neighbors from BOLDSYSTEMS (2019) with BIN BOLD codes. Distances (normalized to 1) are given below each branch (omitted if <0.002) and bootstrap supports above each branch (in bold, only if>70%) obtained with MEGA7 (Kumar et al. 2016). For Vanewrightia, the collection sites are highlighted by colors. Scale bar = 1%.