Ministrymon janevicroy Glassberg

Robbins, Robert K. & Glassberg, Jeffrey, 2013, A butterfly with olive green eyes discovered in the United States and the Neotropics (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Eumaeini), ZooKeys 305, pp. 1-20 : 2-9

Ministrymon janevicroy Glassberg sp. n. Figs 1-4, 6-9

Type material.

Holotype: ♂ (Fig. 3). [hand written in black India Ink on white paper] July 12, 1969/Santa Ana Ref.[uge]/Hidalgo Co[unty]/Texas/J.B. Sullivan. [printed red label] Holotype/ Ministrymon janevicroy /Glassberg. [printed green label] Genitalia No./2013: 10♂/R. K. Robbins. Deposited USNM. Paratypes (9♂, 4♀). Uvalde County. 1♂, Concan[,] Tex[as]/7[July]-6-[19]36/W.D. Field. Hidalgo County. 8♂, same data as holotype. 1♀, June 12, 1976/Sullivan City/Hidalgo Co./Texas/J.B. Sullivan. 1♀ (Fig. 3), Pharr, Texas/20 April 1948/H.A. Freeman (via Nicolay collection). Kerr County. 2♀, Kerrville/Jun[e] 1917/Texas (via Barnes Collection). Paratypes have a blue printed paratype label and are deposited USNM. Five paratypes have been dissected and labeled as such (cf. supplementary file).

Other specimens examined

(excluded from the type series). Mexico: 33♂♂, 3♀♀. El Salvador: 1♀. Nicaragua: 4♂♂, 6♀♀. Costa Rica: 4♂♂, 1♀. Curaçao 2♂♂, 5♀♀ (FSMC). Venezuela: 2♀.

Images in nature examined

(excluded from the type series, specifics listed in a supplementary file).United States (Texas): 19, Mexico 10, Venezuela 1.

Etymology.

This species is named for my wife, Jane Vicroy Scott, whose love and patient forbearance have sustained me, and made me a more effective advocate for butterflies. Her tireless work in support of the North American Butterfly Association, especially with the National Butterfly Center in the Rio Grande Valley (less than 40km from the type locality of Ministrymon janevicroy ), has helped make the world a little bit more friendly for butterflies and thus for people. The name is a non-latinized noun in apposition. I have proposed the English name Vicroy’s Ministreak for this species ( Glassberg 2012).

Diagnosis and description.

Ministrymon janevicroy is placed in Ministrymon because there are small erect teeth on the ventral surface of the penis near the distal end (Fig. 6). Clench (1961) originally noted this generic distinguishing trait, albeit limited to two teeth. In museum collections, specimens of Ministrymon janevicroy are routinely curated with Ministrymon azia because of the similarity in ventral wing patterns (Fig. 1). For this reason, we differentiate Ministrymon janevicroy from Ministrymon azia . However, Ministrymon has not been revised, so it would be premature to suggest that these species are phylogenetic sisters, even if it is likely.

Adults of Ministrymon janevicroy are differentiated from those of Ministrymon azia by (1) the male and female genitalia, (2) the ventral wing pattern, and (3) the color of the eyes.

The male genitalia of Ministrymon janevicroy (7 dissections, listed in supplementary information) differ consistently from those of Ministrymon azia (11 dissections), primarily by structures of the posterior penis (Fig. 6). The four-as illustrated-or five small erect teeth on the ventral surface of the penis tip of Ministrymon janevicroy are clustered anterior of the posterior penis tip while in Ministrymon azia two teeth are located near the posterior penis edge, well posterior of two other teeth. Inside the penis shaft, there is a single slender cornutus in Ministrymon janevicroy while the vesica on either side of the cornutus in Ministrymon azia is sclerotized. Depending upon the amount of sclerotization and the extent to which the vesica is everted, these sclerotizations may appear as a double prong (as in Fig. 6) or as a pair of lateral sclerotized triangular teeth. The shorter and squatter valvae in ventral aspect and the shallower and wider notch between the labides in dorsal aspect of Ministrymon janevicroy (illustrated in Fig. 6) represent individual variation and do not distinguish the species. The illustrated longer saccus of Ministrymon janevicroy (Fig. 6) may differentiate the species statistically, but this length in the study series was overlapping.

The female genitalia of Ministrymon janevicroy (6 dissections) differ substantially and consistently from those of Ministrymon azia (5 dissections). The female genitalia of Ministrymon janevicroy are distinguished from those of Ministrymon azia by a membranous “neck” just posterior of the cervix (arrow on the left of Fig. 7) and the lack of a well-formed posterior pouch from which the ductus seminalis arises (arrow on the right of Fig. 7). These differences are conspicuous and immediately distinguish the species. The illustrated ductus bursae of Ministrymon janevicroy is longer than that of Ministrymon azia (Fig. 7), but this difference represents individual variation.

Glassberg (2012) distinguished the variegated “pebbly-textured” appearance on the basal half of the ventral hindwing surfaces of Ministrymon janevicroy from the more “smooth-textured” appearance in Ministrymon azia (Fig. 2). In the study series, the variegated “pebbly-textured” appearance on the hindwing (but not always the forewing) correlates without exception with genitalic structures for the 29 dissected specimens of Ministrymon janevicroy and Ministrymon azia . The wing scales that are responsible for the variegated “pebbly-textured” appearance in Ministrymon janevicroy are gray basally and whitish at their tips and do not lie flat against the wing. In contrast, the wing scales that are responsible for the gray “smooth-textured” appearance in Ministrymon azia are almost uniformly gray and lie flat against the wings. The scales in Ministrymon janevicroy are also wider than those of Ministrymon azia , and have a jagged terminal edge, but it is unclear how these shape differences affect wing appearance.

Adults of Ministrymon janevicroy have olive green eyes in nature while those of Ministrymon azia have dark brown/black eyes (Fig. 1). The 30 images of adults in nature with a variegated “pebbly-textured” basal hindwing have olive green eyes, and the 44 images of those with a smooth-textured gray basal hindwing have dark brown/black eyes. In the museum study series, all Ministrymon azia adults had dark brown/black eyes while 9.5% of Ministrymon janevicroy adults had eyes as dark as those of Ministrymon azia (data in a supplementary file). The remaining adults of Ministrymon janevicroy had lighter eyes, ranging from yellow-brown to brown (this variation is shown in Fig. 3). It would appear that eye color darkens a variable amount post mortem in Ministrymon janevicroy . A survey of eye color in other Ministrymon species is presented in the discussion.

The wing venation of male and female Ministrymon janevicroy is illustrated (Fig. 8). In Ministrymon janevicroy forewing vein M2 arises closer to M1 than to M3 in both sexes, but is otherwise typical of the Eumaeini ( Eliot 1973). Males of Ministrymon janevicroy have a scent patch at the distal end of the forewing discal cell in which the tan androconia are partially or wholly (in some individuals) covered by dark brown wing scales (Fig. 9). This scent patch structure is the same as that in Ministrymon azia . There is no evident sexual dimorphism in size (♂ mean forewing length = 9.1 mm, s=0.62, N=10, ♀ mean forewing length = 9.1 mm, s=0.33, N=4, data in supplementary file).

Distribution, habitat, and phenology.

Ministrymon janevicroy occurs from southern Texas (there is also an image of an individual of this species from Big Bend National Park in western Texas, cf. supplementary information) to Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica and in South America on the islands of Curaçao and Margarita (Ven ezuela) (Fig. 4). It is a relatively common species in Central America, where it is as well represented in museum collections as Ministrymon azia . Ministrymon janevicroy appears to be absent from the Antilles (including Florida and the Lesser Antilles) and from South America, except for Curaçao and Venezuela’s Isla Margarita. It may also occur on Aruba, where Ministrymon azia was recorded ( Miller et al. 2003), but we have not seen specimens. Ministrymon janevicroy inhabits dry deciduous forest and scrub. It and Ministrymon azia occur at the same localities. For example, both have been collected at the type locality for Ministrymon janevicroy (Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge) in Hidalgo County, and both were photographed on the same day at the same locality (Rio Blanco Canyon) near Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico. In Texas, adults of Ministrymon janevicroy have been found from January to August. Elsewhere, there is no evidence for seasonality.