Roelofa maera ( Schaus, 1913 ), 2020

St Laurent, Ryan A., Herbin, Daniel & Kawahara, Akito Y., 2020, Revision of Roelofa Schaus, 1928 (Lepidoptera, Mimallonidae, Roelofinae) with a description of a new species, Zootaxa 4877 (3), pp. 505-538 : 518-519

Roelofa maera ( Schaus, 1913) , stat. rev.

( Figs 9–12 , 16–18 , 21 )

Cicinnus maera Schaus, 1913: 5

Roelofa narga ; Schaus 1928 (in part, synonymized with R. narga )

Roelofa maera ; Becker 1996 (as synonym of R. narga )

Roelofa maera ; St Laurent and Kawahara 2019 (as synonym of R. narga )

Type material: LECTOTYPE ♂. BRAZIL: Santa Catarina: Joinville, Brazil/ Collection W. Schaus / n 1051/ USNM-Mimal: 1019/ Cicinnus maera type Schaus/ Type No. 18647 U.S.N.M./ LECTOTYPE Roelofa maera designated by St Laurent, Herbin and Kawahara ( USNM, examined) .

Additional material examined: (33 ♂, 2 ♀ total) BRAZIL: Bahia: 1 ♂, Mun. Marau, Fazenda Agua Boa, 14°13’S, 39°29’W, 150 m: 15–22.XI.2010, Th. Greifenstein leg. (MWM). Minas Gerais: 2 ♂, Poté, 500 m: 25.I.1997, H. Thöny leg. (MWM). Espírito Santo: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Santa Leopoldina, Biriricas, ca. 700 m: 20.III–20.IV.1997, genitalia prep. 35.541 (1 ♀), I.1998, genitalia prep. 35.543 (1 ♂), H. Thöny leg. (MWM). 1 ♂, Santa Leopoldina, Boque[i]rão, ca. 600 m: VI.1997, Hubert Thöny leg., genitalia prep. 35.542 (MWM). 13 ♂, 1 ♀: Santa Leopoldina, Dorf Tirol, 40°50’W, 24°75’S [coordinates apparently incorrect], 700 m: 10–25.XI.1996 (3 ♂, 1 ♀), 8-20.XII.1996 (7 ♂), 22-31.X.1996 (1 ♂), 15.V.1997 (1 ♂), VI.1998 (1 ♂), H. Thöny leg. (MWM). Rio de Janeiro: 1 ♂, Petrópolis: 14.XI.1960, Gagarin leg., ex. col. Gagarin, DZ 25.469 (DZUP). 1 ♂, Independência, Petrópolis: 26.X.1930, Coll. Principe Gagarin Rio, Coll. D. D’Almeida, 19.002, DZ 25.470 (DZUP). 1 ♂, Barreira, Teresópolis: 20.XI.1955, ex. col. Gagarin, DZ 25.471 (DZUP). 1 ♂, Barreira, Teresópolis, 400 m: 18–26.X.1957, Pearson H. & G., HRP 1872, UNSM-Mimal: 2423, St Laurent dissection: 11-30-18:2 (USNM). 3 ♂, Boca do Mato, Cachoeira de Macacu: 11–20.X.1996, Tangerini leg. (MWM). São Paulo: 1 ♂, Boracéia, Salesópolis: 16.XII.1941, D’Almeida leg., Coll. D’Almeida, 19.001, DZ 25.472 (DZUP). Paraná: 1 ♂, Tibagi, Guartelá, 24°33’59”S 50°15’26”W, 975 m: 18.I.2012, C. Mielke leg., CDH 2.589, genitalia prep. H1383 (CDH). Santa Catarina: 1 ♂, Joinville (ZSM). 1 ♂, Blumenau, H.X.29 [X.1929?], “III”, E. Wenzel S. G. (MNHU). 1 ♂, No specific data, “60” (MNHU). No locality data: 3 ♂, “814”, Coll. Weymer (MNHU).

Diagnosis. This species can be distinguished from all other Roelofa , except R. narga , by the same characters given in the diagnosis of R. narga . Differentiation of R. narga and R. maera is primarily in the genitalia characters, but externally R. maera tends to have broader submarginal areas, broader wings, and lighter salmon pink coloration (appearing more faded than R. narga ) overall. The pale-yellow suffusion near the discal cell usually also bleeds into the angle between M 3 and CuA 1, which very rarely occurs in R. narga , and when it does, this bleeding is to a much lesser degree than in R. maera . In the male genitalia, the gnathos arms are finer and longer in R. maera and the valvae are distinctly broader. Female genitalia are similar to those of R. narga , but the VIII tergite is more mesally projected in R. maera , and the ostium bursae is not sclerotized as a differentiated plate below the lamella antevaginalis.

Description. Male. Head: As for R. narga . Thorax: As for R. narga . Legs: As for R. narga . Forewing dorsum: Forewing length: 16–17 mm, avg. 26.5 mm, n = 2, wingspan: ~35 mm. As for R. narga but: wing slightly broader, with broader submarginal area (broadness of wing more consistent than that of submarginal area); coloration lighter and more uniformly pink overall. Yellow suffusion present within and proximal to discal cell between CuA 1 and CuA 3 as in R. narga , and also regularly between M 3 and CuA 1. Forewing ventrum: Essentially identical to forewing dorsum, thus like in R. narga but with differences in submarginal width as for forewing dorsum in R. maera . Hindwing dorsum: Following similar patterning to forewing dorsum, discal spot and discal yellow patch absent. Hindwing ventrum: Following same pattern as forewing ventrum. Abdomen: As for R. narga but coloration lighter pink. Genitalia: ( Figs 16–18 ) n = 4. As for R. narga but basal portion of gnathos more distended, gnathos arms finer, narrower, more elongate, reaching beyond halfway length of uncus; baseo-mesal valvae projections more erect and slightly broader; valvae broader, valvae about 1.5x wider than those of R. narga . Phallus thicker than in R. narga .

Female. Head: As for male but antenna finely serrate, appearing almost entirely filiform. Thorax: As for male. Legs: As for male. Forewing dorsum: Forewing length: ~18 mm, n = 1, wingspan: ~36 mm. As for male, but broader overall, apex less falcate. Forewing ventrum: Similar to forewing dorsum, but coloration paler overall. Hindwing dorsum: Following similar patterning to forewing dorsum, but discal spot absent. Hindwing ventrum: Following same pattern as forewing ventrum. Abdomen: As for male but more robust overall, distal tip of abdomen lacking paired elongated scale tufts, but distal tip of abdomen with singular darker scaled tuft. Genitalia: ( Fig. 21 ) n = 1. [Note, only examined R. maera genitalia preparation flattened and slide mounted, so comparison to R. narga not precise] As for R. narga but VIII tergite more mesally accentuated, region below (ostium bursae) lamella antevaginalis less sclerotized, not differentiated from ductus bursae; apophyses anteriores more robust, more heavily sclerotized. No horse-tail like setae or tangled mass of setae observed in dissection.

Distribution. ( Fig. 22 ) Restricted to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, apparently very limited distribution inland. Records for R. maera exist from Bahia, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, and Santa Catarina.

Remarks. Schaus (1913) described R. maera from an unstated number of specimens. The single specimen labeled as the type in the USNM is here designated as the lectotype. At the time of its description, R. maera was not compared to the obviously very similar R. narga that Schaus had described eight years prior ( Schaus 1905). After the original description, R. maera was not mentioned in the literature until it was synonymized with R. narga in 1928 by Schaus. Roelofa maera was maintained in synonymy with R. narga until the present work. Based on morphological distinctness, albeit slight, we revalidate this taxon and treat it as a full species. Species pairs between the Amazon and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest are quite common in Mimallonidae , and often the morphological distinction between them is more obvious than in the case of R. narga and R. maera ( St Laurent and Dombroskie 2015, 2016, St Laurent et al. 2017).

Although not included in the phylogenomic study of St Laurent et al. (2020), this species is morphologically very similar to R. narga , and is therefore likely to be its closest relative within Roelofa .

Figures

FIGURE 22. Map of collecting localities for Roelofa elyanae, R. narga, and R. maera examined in this work.

FIGURES 2–12. Roelofa specimens, a = dorsal, b = ventral. 2. R. elyanae holotype male, Brazil, Maranhão, Feira Nova do Maranhão, Retiro, 480 m (DZUP). 3. R. elyanae paratype male, locality as for Fig. 2 (CGCM). 4. R. narga male, Bolivia, Ñuflo de Chávez, Esperanza, photo courtesy A. Giusti (NHMUK). 5. R. elyanae female, locality as for Fig. 2. (CGCM). 6. R. narga male, French Guiana, Piste Belizon, PK 7, 67 m [image edited in Photoshop] (CDH). 7. R. narga female, French Guiana [photo R. Lahousse] (MNHN). 8. R. narga holotype female, Suriname, Maroni River (USNM). 9. R. maera lectotype male, Brazil, Santa Catarina, Joinville (USNM). 10. R. maera male, Brazil, Santa Catarina (MNHU). 11. R. maera male, Brazil, Espírito Santo, Santa Leopoldina, Boqueirão, ca. 600 m, photo courtesy N. Ignatev (MWM). 12. R. maera female, Brazil, Espírito Santo, Santa Leopoldina, Biriricas, ca. 700 m, photo courtesy N. Ignatev (MWM). Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURES 13–18. Roelofa male genitalia, a = ventral, b = lateral, c = phallus [note dorsal juxtal projections only attached to phallus in Fig. 13]. 13. R. elyanae, Brazil, Distrito Federal, Estação Florestal, Cabeça do Veado, 1100 m, St Laurent dissection: 5-7-18:5 (CNC). 14. R. narga, French Guiana, Cayenne, Roura, 40 km E. R. de Patawa, St Laurent dissection: 11-30-18:1 (MGCL). 15. R. narga, Bolivia, La Paz, Río Zongo, 750 m, genitalia prep. NHRS-TOBI 000001955 (NHRS). 16. R. maera, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Barreira, Teresópolis, 400 m, St Laurent dissection: 11-30-18:2 (USNM). 17. R. maera, Brazil, Espírito Santo, Santa Leopoldina, Boqueirão, ca. 600 m, MWM genitalia prep. 35.542, photo courtesy N. Ignatev (MWM). 18. R. maera, Brazil, Espírito Santo, Santa Leopoldina, Biriricas, 700 m, MWM genitalia prep. 35.543, photo courtesy N. Ignatev (MWM). Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURES 19–21. Roelofa female genitalia, ventral view. 19. R. elyanae, Brazil, Distrito Federal, Estação Florestal, Cabeça do Veado, 1100 m, St Laurent dissection: LEP61991 (CNC). 20. R. narga, Brazil, Amazonas, Reserva Ducke, km 26, Manaus-Itacoatiara Highway, St Laurent dissection: 12-4-18:1 (CNC). 21. R. maera, Brazil, Espírito Santo, Santa Leopoldina, Biriricas, ca. 700 m, MWM genitalia prep. 35.541 [note slide mounted, flattened, photo courtesy N. Ignatev] (MWM). Scale bar = 1 mm.