Iridopsis socoromaensis Vargas, 2021

Vargas, Hector A., 2021, Iridopsis socoromaensis sp. n., a geometrid moth (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) from the Andes of northern Chile, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 61592-61592 : 61592

Iridopsis socoromaensis Vargas sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: sex: female; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2020-025, genitalia slide HAV-1391; Taxon: order: Lepidoptera; family: Geometridae; genus: Iridopsis; specificEpithet: socoromaensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Vargas; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location: continent: South America; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota; locality: Socoroma ; verbatimLocality: About 2 km south of Socoroma Village.; verbatimElevation: 3300; verbatimLatitude: 18°27 ’22’’ S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35 ’15’’ W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: 09 Nov 2020; Event: samplingProtocol: One female adult emerged in March 2019, reared from larva collected on Dalea pennellii var. chilensis in March 2018, pupa April 2018.; month: 2019; day: 3; verbatimEventDate: March 2019; Record Level: type: Physical Object; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: sex: male; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2020-026, genitalia slide HAV-1236; Taxon: order: Lepidoptera; family: Geometridae; genus: Iridopsis; specificEpithet: socoromaensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Vargas; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location: continent: South America; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota; locality: Socoroma ; verbatimLocality: About 2 km south of Socoroma Village.; verbatimElevation: 3300; verbatimLatitude: 18°27 ’22’’ S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35 ’15’’ W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: 09 Nov 2020; Event: samplingProtocol: One male adult emerged in March 2019, reared from larva collected on Dalea pennellii var. chilensis in March 2018, pupa April 2018.; month: 2019; day: 3; verbatimEventDate: March 2019; Record Level: type: Physical Object; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: sex: male; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2020-027, genitalia slide HAV-1390; Taxon: order: Lepidoptera; family: Geometridae; genus: Iridopsis; specificEpithet: socoromaensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Vargas; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location: continent: South America; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota; locality: Socoroma ; verbatimLocality: About 2 km south of Socoroma Village.; verbatimElevation: 3300; verbatimLatitude: 18°27 ’22’’ S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35 ’15’’ W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: 09 Nov 2020; Event: samplingProtocol: One male adult emerged in March 2019, reared from larva collected on Dalea pennellii var. chilensis in March 2018, pupa April 2018.; month: 2019; day: 3; verbatimEventDate: March 2019; Record Level: type: Physical Object; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: sex: male; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2020-028, genitalia slide HAV-1392; Taxon: order: Lepidoptera; family: Geometridae; genus: Iridopsis; specificEpithet: socoromaensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: Vargas; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location: continent: South America; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota; locality: Socoroma ; verbatimLocality: About 2 km south of Socoroma Village.; verbatimElevation: 3300; verbatimLatitude: 18°27 ’22’’ S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35 ’15’’ W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: 09 Nov 2020; Event: samplingProtocol: One male adult emerged in March 2019, reared from larva collected on Dalea pennellii var. chilensis in March 2018, pupa April 2018.; month: 2019; day: 3; verbatimEventDate: March 2019; Record Level: type: Physical Object; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA

Description

Female (Fig. 1 ). Forewing length 16.5 mm.

Head. Vertex and frons mainly creamy white with scattered dark grey scales. Antenna filiform with scape and pedicel creamy white, flagellum dark grey. Labial palpus dark grey with a few scattered creamy white scales.

Thorax. Mainly creamy white with scattered dark grey scales. Legs with creamy white and dark grey scales intermixed. Forewing dorsal surface with whitish-grey and dark grey scales intermixed; lines and discal dot slightly differentiated; postmedial line dark grey, triangular from costal margin to M3, slightly differentiated to inner margin; subterminal line narrow, creamy white, continuous with an apical concolorous blotch with a few scattered dark grey scales. Forewing ventral surface mainly whitish-grey from base to postmedial line; discal dot dark grey; postmedial line dark grey, narrowing from costal margin to inner margin; subterminal line narrow, creamy white, continuous with a concolorous blotch at apex; mainly dark grey between subterminal line and outer margin, lighter to tornus. Hindwing dorsal surface similar to forewing, but without a creamy white blotch at apex. Hindwing ventral surface mainly whitish-grey with a small dark grey discal dot and dark grey postmedial line.

Abdomen. Mainly creamy white with scattered dark grey scales.

Female genitalia (Fig. 2 ). Papillae anales lobe-like with a few setae. Posterior apophyses narrow, elongated, about seven times the length of papillae anales, apex reaching the basal part of the ductus bursae. Anterior apophyses narrow, slightly shorter than half the length of the posterior apophyses. Lamella antevaginalis a fine transversal stripe with anterior margin convex and posterior margin concave. Ductus bursae cylindrical, sclerotised, slightly shorter than anterior apophyses. Corpus bursae oval, membranous, length about a third that of the ductus bursae, signum sub-circular with serrated margin and a few additional small projections on the central area. Ductus seminalis on distal third of ductus bursae.

Male. Similar to female in size and maculation, but with bipectinate antenna and hair pencil on metatibia.

Male genitalia (Fig. 3 ). Uncus triangular, round apex, with short setae near margin. Tegumen broad, anterior margin excavated in the middle. Saccus membranous ventrally. Juxta narrow, mainly as a longitudinal stripe; basal part semicircular slightly swollen antero-ventrally; apex excavated in the middle. Elongated hair-like scales near base of juxta. Valva deeply cleft; costal lobe wide, dorsal margin mainly straight, apex round, ventral process slightly curved outwards; sacculus triangular, apex round, internal face with a slightly differentiated longitudinal fold near apex. Phallus sub-cylindrical, about twice the length of the costal lobe of the valva, anterior part slightly downward-curved; a narrow, elongated cornutus on the vesica, slightly smaller than half the phallus length.

DNA barcoding. One sequence of DNA barcode (GenBank accession MW261921) of 658 bp was obtained. The BOLD Identification System found 93.7-94.3% similarity with the Nearctic I. sanctissima (Barnes & McDunnough, 1917), while similarity was 93.1% with the only haplotype of a Chilean congeneric ( I. hausmanni ) available in BOLD.

Diagnosis

Iridopsis socoromaensis sp. n. is recognisable by the dorsal surface of forewing with postmedial line like a dark grey triangle from the costal margin to M3 and an apical creamy white blotch with a few scattered dark grey scales, the female genitalia with lamella antevaginalis as a fine transverse stripe and the male genitalia with the costal lobe of the valva with a ventral process slightly curved outwards and the vesica with a single cornutus. In contrast, the two other Chilean representatives ( I. hausmanni and I Iridopsis parrai ) lack a dark grey triangle and apical creamy white spot on the forewing dorsal surface, lamella antevaginalis in the female genitalia and ventral process of the costal lobe of the valva in the male genitalia and the vesica has multiple cornuti. DNA barcode divergence with the only currently-available haplotype of I. hausmanni was found to be 93.1%. DNA barcode sequences of I. parrai remain unknown impeding comparisons.

Etymology

The specific epithet is derived from Socoroma Village, the type locality of I. socoromaensis sp. n.

Distribution

Iridopsis socoromaensis sp. n. is known only from the type locality near Socoroma Village in the Andes of northern Chile (Fig. 4 ).

Biology

The folivorous larvae of I. socoromaensis sp. n. were recorded on the Chilean endemic Dalea pennellii var. chilensis (Fig. 5 ), a fabacean prostrate shrub inhabiting a narrow elevation range between about 2500 and 3300 m and 18° and 20° S on the western slopes of the Andes ( Rodriguez et al. 2018).

Figures

Figure 1. Female holotype of Iridopsis socoromaensis sp. n. A. Dorsal view; B. Ventral view. Scale bars 10 mm.

Figure 2. Female genitalia of Iridopsis socoromaensis sp. n. A. Ventral view; B. Detail of lamella antevaginalis, ostium and base of ductus bursae (open arrow of A); C. Detail of signum (solid arrow in A). Scale bar 1 mm.

Figure 3. Male genitalia of Iridopsis socoromaensis sp. n. A. Ventral view, phallus removed; B. Phallus, lateral view; upper right rectangle shows apical portion of the cornutus (detail of rectangular area of B). Scale bars 0.5 mm.

Figure 4. Habitat of Iridopsis socoromaensis sp. n. at the type locality near Socoroma Village, at about 3300 m elevation on the arid western slopes of the Andes of northern Chile (18 ° 16 ' 41 " S, 69 ° 35 ' 17 " W).

Figure 5. Host plant of Iridopsis socoromaensis sp. n., Dalea pennellii (J. F. Macbr.) J. F. Macbr. var. chilensis Barneby (Fabaceae), at the type locality.