Dicepolia aerealis, Hayden, James E., 2009

Hayden, James E., 2009, Taxonomic revision of Neotropical Dicepolia Snellen (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), Zootaxa 2237, pp. 1-33 : 15-16

Dicepolia aerealis sp. nov.

Figures 6, 22, 32, 38, 53

Material examined: Holotype 3 ( USNM): Santa Rosa National Park / Guanacaste Prov. COSTA / RICA. 10–20 Mar 1982 / DH Janzen & W. Hallwachs // [red label] HOLOTYPE / Dicepolia / aerealis / Hayden // J.E. Hayden SLIDE No. 46 3.”

Paratypes: Costa Rica: 13: Est. Murcielago, A.C.G., Prov. Guana, / COSTA RICA. 100m. 9-19 Feb. 1994. C. / Cano, L N 320300_347200 #2649 // COSTA RICA INBIO CRI 001725405 // J.E. Hayden SLIDE No. 361 3 ( INBio). 1Ƥ: Santa Rosa National Park / Guanacaste Prov., COSTA / RICA. D.H.Janzen 12 Dec / 1978– 10 Jan 1979. // COSTA RICA INBIO CRI 002506840 ( INBio). 23, 4ƤƤ (from type locality): Santa Rosa National Park / Guanacaste Prov. COSTA / RICA 2–11 Mar 1980 / DH Janzen & W. Hallwachs; one with label “J.E. Hayden SLIDE No. 47 Ƥ,” one with label “J.E. Hayden SLIDE No. 360 3,” one with label “J.E. Hayden SLIDE No. 366 Ƥ” ( USNM). Venezuela: 13: VENEZUELA: Barinas; / Rio Caparo Res. Station / 32kmE El Canton, b-light / 3-5 II 1978, seasonal / forest, J.B.Heppner // J.E. Hayden SLIDE No. 228 3 ( USNM).

Diagnosis: Small, with forewing length 6.6–8.4 ± 0.2 mm. Forewing dark brassy, not glinting. Forewing scale tooth present and gray, scales with long stalks like peels. Valves of genitalia circular but without costal hump; apex of costa attenuate, needle-like. A8 pleural androconium linear but faint. Gnathos arms meeting in narrow angle, about 30 degrees. Apex of costa of male valve clearly attenuate. Cornutus long, to apex of phallus. Female genitalia without appendices of corpus bursae and colliculum spur; cervix bursae greatly expanded and rugose, connected to corpus bursae by narrow neck. Field of granules absent from corpus bursae; signum not clearly lozenge-shaped.

Description: General color brownish orange or reddish golden. Frontoclypeus prominent, projecting 0.22 ± 0.03 mm (n = 10), frontoclypeus a sharp, acute arch. Frons flat except apex. Frons tawny brown, vertex brownish orange. Eye 0.75 ± 0.03 mm long (n = 10). Labial palpi 1.5–1.9 mm (mean 1.6 ± 0.1 mm, n = 8). Mean palpi:eye ratio 2.2. Antennae pale brown. Male antennae moderately ciliate (not longer than width of antenna); female antennae short-ciliate. Haustellar scales white. Cervical scales beige. Dorsal thorax brownish orange, like wings. Ventral thorax and legs white, except gray-beige foreleg tibia and distal femur, pale yellow-brown dorsal edge of midleg femur. Male foreleg without femoral androconia. Outer: inner spur ratios: midleg, 0.33; hindleg, 0.5–0.6. Abdomen dorsally yellow-beige or gray if greasy, with posterior edges of tergites white; ventrally white. Male genitalic scales yellow, but saccular scales more orange or rosy. Male T8 fringe and androconia beige with rosy scales. S7 tuft present, off-white.

Forewing length 6.6–8.4 mm (mean 7.2 ± 0.2 mm), width 3.0–4.0 mm (mean 3.4 ± 0.2 mm), mean length:width ratio 2.1 (n = 10) (fig. 6). Ground color brownish orange or reddish golden, with aspersion of darker scales. Costa with fine dark brown line. Transverse lines dark brown and diffuse, consisting of many disconnected scales in broad swath. Antemedial line weak or absent anterior of discal cell; meeting posterior edge almost ½ from base. Reniform line present. Postmedial line closest to termen on median veins, conspicuously bent basad on radials and CuA2–1A. Marginal fringe basally dark gray, disally white along entire length. Posterior edge of forewing with conspicuous, black, diffuse scale tuft 1/3 from wing base; fringe around tornus also long and conspicuous. Underside brassy brown, white anal area, lines absent. Hindwings basally glinting off-white. Termen brassy with diffuse dark brown scales, smoothly fading into pearly basal area, some specimens with dark scales along veins; pale rose scales in some specimens. Postmedial line absent. White posterior of 1A. Hindwing undesides pale, glinting yellowish white.

Abdomen dorsally yellow with light brown scales; ventrally fading to pale yellowish cream. Genitalic tufts pale yellow.

Male genitalia (figs 22, 38): S8 anterior emargination round, not broad. S8 posterior edge straight across, not emarginate, with large medial spine. A8 pleural androconium barely present, with few if any hairs. Lamelliform structures on square shoulders with parallel-sided lateral bases. Vinculum barely concave in middle. Gnathos arms converging at 45-degree angle; gnathos lateral arms not robust; median element as long as arms. Costal flutes absent or barely present apically; apex of costa attenuate. Valva with nearly circular outline: not longer than deep. Phallus with 2.5 spirals. Cornutus single, long, to apex.

Female genitalia (fig. 53): S9 length:depth ratio 1. Ductus length from ostium bursae to colliculum, short. Colliculum 1.5 times as long as wide. Spur of colliculum absent. Appendices of ductus and corpus bursae absent. Corpus bursae small, membranous, without granules but with smooth, irregular signum near ductus seminalis. Cervix bursae rugose, unarmed, and substantially expanded between colliculum and ductus seminalis, narrowing suddenly again at juncture with corpus bursae, the whole structure overall like a dumbell with short handle; ductus seminalis arises from the narrow neck.

Etymology: Latin aereus, of bronze.

Distribution: Guanacaste Prov., Costa Rica, and one from Barinas, Venezuela.

Flight period: Dec.–March ( Costa Rica); Feb. ( Venezuela).

Similar species: Similar to D. rufitinctalis but larger, with lines less distinct. The few specimens have a fairly uniform length:width ratio of about 2.1 (standard deviation 0.11), whereas D. rufitinctalis show greater variance. Moderately melanic D. rufitinctalis have a similar amount of dusting of dark scales on the forewing. The forewing scale tooth in D. rufitinctalis is darker charcoal gray, and that species has a foreleg androconium. D. venezolalis lacks the forewing tuft and has a cornutus with one less coil. The cervix bursae in D. rufitinctalis is simple, not greatly expanded.