Auroriana florianensis (Herbin, 2012) Herbin, 2012

St. Laurent, Ryan A. & Mielke, Carlos G. C., 2016, Three new genera of Neotropical Mimallonidae (Lepidoptera, Mimallonoidea, Mimallonidae) with descriptions of three new species, ZooKeys 566, pp. 117-143 : 127-129

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Mimallonidae

Auroriana florianensis (Herbin, 2012) comb. n. Figs 9-11, 15, 17, 18, 19

Cicinnus florianensis Herbin, 2012: 23-25, figs 17, 18.

Type material.

Holotype, ♂: 29-VII-2001, Piste du Dégrad Florian, PK 12, GUYANE Fcse, Coll. M. LAGUERRE, M. Laguerre leg./ genitalia, prep. D. Herbin, H. 674/ BC-Her1657/ Cicinnus florianensis , Herbin, 2012, The European entomologist, Vol. 4, N° 1, Holotype ♂/ (MNHN, examined). Type locality: French Guiana: Piste du Dégrad Florian, PK 12.

Additional specimens examined.

(4 ♂, 1 ♀) FRENCH GUIANA: 1 ♂, St. Jean du Maroni, Plateau des Mines, PK 1,3: 29.VII.1993, L. Sènécaux réc. (MNHN). 1 ♂, Mont Mitaraka [Massif du Mitaraka], 300 m: 19.VIII.2015, La Planète revisitée, MNHN/PNI, APA 973-I, Ph. Collet leg., at mercury vapor light, St. Laurent diss.: 11-19-15:1 (RAS). 1 ♂, Saül, Point de vue: 30.VII.2011, Eddy Poirier leg., at UV light (CPC). 1 ♂, Réserve des Nouragues, Inselberg: 5.VIII.2010, Ph. Collet leg., at UV light (CPC). 1 ♀, Réserve des Nouragues, Inselberg, 4° 5 ’15” N, 52° 40 ’48” W, 110 m: 8.VIII.2010, at UV light, Eddy Poirier leg., Chr. Gibeaux diss. prep: 7759 (MNHN).

Diagnosis.

Auroriana florianensis is similar to the previous species; see the diagnosis of Auroriana colombiana for differentiating characters between both species. Auroriana florianensis can be distinguished from Auroriana gemma sp. n. by the more strongly curved forewing postmedial line, straighter forewing antemedial line, and by the more expansive pink suffusion in the postmedial region. The genitalia can also be used to differentiate the two: in Auroriana florianensis the tegumen is narrower, the gnathos processes larger, with a sharp tooth basally, and the valves are bent upward, with heavier setae on the basal saccular edge. Auroriana florianensis lacks the mesal valve tooth present in Auroriana gemma sp. n. Finally, the phallus of Auroriana florianensis is much longer than in Auroriana gemma sp. n.

Description.

Male.Head: Pink, eyes bordered posteriorly by dark-brown scales; antenna opaque yellow; labial palpus small, dorsally with darker scales. Thorax: Pink, interspersed with beige scales, prothorax darker pink. Legs: Light pink, vestiture long, tarsus beige, tarsal spurs relatively long, finely pointed apical tips. Forewing dorsum: Forewing length: 17 mm, avg. 17 mm, n = 3, Wingspan: 32 mm. Triangular, slight inward notch at tornus, margin convex mesally. Ground color light orange brown, overall very sparsely speckled by dark petiolate scales. Antemedial line faint pink, nearly straight. Postmedial line bowed inward, dark brown, outward edge lined with pale pink, especially approaching tornus, postmedial line angled sharply towards costa immediately after passing Rs4. Antemedial area pink. Medial area lighter orange with pink suffusion. Submarginal area darker brown, marginal area with variably sized pink-gray suffusion. Discal spot a small black mark. Forewing ventrum: Similar to dorsum but ante- and postmedial lines absent, pink suffusion reduced antemedially and medially, discal mark more visible. Hindwing dorsum: Coloration as for forewing dorsum, but less pink; postmedial line lacks outer pink edging. Hindwing ventrum: Follows same pattern as forewing ventrum, but postmedial line diffuse, brown, outwardly lobed mesally. Abdomen: As for genus but coloration more beige than pink. Genitalia: (Fig. 15) n = 1. Tegumen broad, subtriangular. Vinculum somewhat rectangular. Uncus moderate length, tubular, hardly differentiated from tegumen. Gnathos as two unfused, heavily-sclerotized, somewhat triangular processes with sharp basal tooth. Simple triangular valves bent upward, narrowed distally. Base of valves with heavier, differentiated setae, heavily sclerotized lobes. Juxta fused to phallus, with wide ventral process connecting phallus to base of vinculum. Phallus elongated, curved, downturned, terminus with weak hook-like curl and heavily sclerotized forward pointing process. Base of phallus with elongated lobe. Vesica thick, bag-like. Female.Head: As for male, but antennal rami shorter. Thorax: As for male, but with more beige scales. Legs: As for male. Forewing dorsum: Forewing length: 17 mm, Wingspan: ~33.5 mm, n = 1. As for male, but broader, pink suffusions reduced, ground color more olive green than orange [possible artifact of photography]. Forewing ventrum: As for forewing dorsum but pinkish suffusions nearly absent, postmedial line absent, discal mark more pronounced. Hindwing dorsum: As for male but slightly broader, dark petiolate scales more numerous, especially antemedially. Hindwing ventrum: Following same pattern as forewing ventrum. Abdomen: As for male, but slightly broader. Sternite VIII with pair of short sclerotized bands posteriorly. Genitalia: (Figs 17, 18), n = 1. Papillae anales broad, somewhat rectangular, covered in setae, longer anteriorly. Apophyses anteriores with curved tips; apophyses posteriores robust, wide, slightly longer and broader than apophyses anteriores. Ductus bursae very long, somewhat sclerotized near ostium, ductus not differentiated from long, narrow corpus bursae. Appendix bursae present, elongate, fingerlike. Tergite VIII as narrow band with posteriorly directed mesal arc with membranous center. Lamella antevaginalis very large, broad, trapezoidal, notched mesally.

Distribution

(Fig. 19). Auroriana florianensis is so far known only from French Guiana, but is widely distributed in the region.

Remarks.

At the time of its original description, Auroriana florianensis was first suggested by Herbin (2012) to be unique among Mimallonidae and possibly belonging to a new genus. Despite this opinion, with which we agree, Herbin placed this species in the “catch-all” genus Cicinnus , which is currently being used to subsume many newly described taxa that show no obvious generic associations ( Herbin 2012, 2015, Herbin and Mielke 2014, Herbin and Monzón 2015).

After reading the description of Cicinnus florianensis , the first author recognized that two undescribed species under study were congeneric with Cicinnus florianensis , but none of them belonged in Cicinnus . We further support Herbin’s (2012) original as sertion that Cicinnus florianensis belonged to a new genus. This realization was solidified when genitalia dissections revealed that the characters previously thought wholly unique to Auroriana florianensis were indeed shared with both Auroriana gemma sp. n. and Auroriana colombiana , and with no other described Mimallonidae .

Until now, Auroriana florianensis was only known from the holotype male. The female and its genitalia are figured for the first time. Additional distributional and temporal data are presented for this species.

The apparent rarity of Auroriana florianensis is noteworthy, especially considering that this species is known from only five males and one female, despite intensive collecting ef forts in French Guiana. All specimens were collected in the dry season, the last days of July until late August, displaying a rather restricted flight period of less than a month. However, there are less collecting efforts during the dry season (C. G. Mielke pers. obs.), thus it is not possible to determine if the few records are due to this season being poorly collected or true rarity of the species.