Cheimas opalinus iosephi Pyrcz & Boyer, 2018

Pyrcz, Tomasz W., Lorenc-Brudecka, Jadwiga, Boyer, Pierre & Zubek, Anna, 2018, Subspecies-level systematics and affinities of Cheimas Thieme - an endemic genus of the subparamo of the Venezuelan Cordillera de Mérida (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), Zootaxa 4422 (2), pp. 219-243 : 229

Cheimas opalinus iosephi Pyrcz & Boyer , n. ssp.

( Figs. 5A–B , 6A–B , 9C–D , 11B )

Type locality: Páramo de San José , south-eastern Cordillera de Mérida, Mérida State, Venezuela

Material examined: HOLOTYPE ♂: VENEZUELA, Cordillera de Mérida, Mérida State: San José , Páramo de San José , 3000–3050 m, 05.XII.2005, T. Pyrcz leg., CEP-MZUJ (to be deposited in MIZA) ; PARATYPES: VENEZUELA, Cordillera de Mérida, Mérida State: 9 ♂: San José , Páramo de San José , 3000–3050 m, 05.XII.2005, T. Pyrcz leg. (1 prep. genit. 405/ 21.06.2016 J. Lorenc) ; 10 ♂: San José , Páramo de San José , 3000–3050 m, 11.II.2007, T. Pyrcz leg. ; 8 ♂: San José , Páramo de San José , 3000–3050 m, 20.II.2008, T. Pyrcz leg. ; 11 ♂: San José , Páramo de San José , 3000–3050 m, 28.II.2010, T. Pyrcz leg. ; 2 ♂: Sierra Nevada , Páramo de San Luis , 3100–3150 m, 07.IV.2003, M. Costa leg. (1 prep. genit. 03/ 07.05.2005, T. Pyrcz) ; 4 ♂: San José vers Mucutuy Km 11, 3000 m, 05.XII.2005, P. Boyer leg. ; 4 ♂: Mérida– Táchira State limit: El Batallón, Mesa Alta , 2900–2950 m, 03.XII.2005, T. Pyrcz leg., prep . genit. 564/ 12.07.2017 J. Lorenc; 1 ♀: San José , Páramo de San José , 3000–3050 m, 05.XII.2005, T. Pyrcz leg.,prep . genit. 487/ 17.11.2016 J. Lorenc; CEP-MZUJ; 2 ♂: San José , Páramo de San José , 3000–3050 m, 05.XII.2005, T. Pyrcz leg., 2016 -221, kölcsön anyag 2007. IX.26, HMNH; 10 ♂: San José vers Mucutuy km11, 3000 m, 5.XII.2005, P. Boyer leg. ; 8 ♂: Paramo de San José , 3100 m, 20.II.2008, P. Boyer leg., PBF. 5 ♂ and 1 ♀: San José , Páramo de San José , 3000–3050 m, 28.II.2010, H. Warren-Gash leg., HWG .

Diagnosis. In both sexes the HWD patch is oval and enters the cell, which it does not in C. opalinus rosalinus n. ssp. ( Figs. 3A–D ), but compared to the nominotypical it is invariably smaller, and has a bluish rather than greenish sheen, even in freshly emerged specimens. The upperside ground colour is blackish brown, compared to the chestnut of C. opalinus rosalinus n. ssp. Female’s ductus bursae is longer and slightly wider ( Fig. 11B ) than in C. opalinus rosalinus n. ssp. but narrower than in the nominate subspecies, being similar to C. opalinus dominici ( Fig. 11C ).

FWL: 26–30 mm, mean: 27.1 mm (n=49).

D colour: varying between blackish brown and coffee brown

HWP colour: metallic greenish blue

HWP shape: oval and always elongated along the anal margin, usually with a basal intrusion of brown, always entering the discal cell, usually covering lower one–fourth of the cell, and base of M3–CuA1

Individual variation. The population in San José is remarkably stable as far as the HWD bluish patch is concerned. In the Mesa Alta population, individual variation in the size and shape of the patch is appreciable, possibly to the gene flow from the nearby populations of C. opalinus rosalinus n. ssp.

Etymology. This subspecies owes its name to type locality, Páramo de San José, Santus Iosephus in Latin.

Geographic range. Eastern slopes of the Cordillera de Mérida, including the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, through the Páramo de San José , southwards to the northern slopes of the Paramo Batallón situated in Mérida State.

Altitudinal range. 2900–3050 m a.s.l.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Cheimas adults (dorsum)

FIGURE 5. Cheimas adults (dorsum)

FIGURE 6. Cheimas adults (venter)

FIGURE 9. Cheimas male genitalia (lateral view, aedeagus extracted, in lateral and ventral view from its natural position) A. Cheimas opalinus opalinus, La Aguada (prep. genit. 404/21.08.2016)

FIGURE 11. Cheimas female genitalia (lateral view)