Telchin atymnius drucei (Schaus, 1911)

Berghe, Eric Den, 2020, Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) from Honduras and Nicaragua, Central America, Zootaxa 4895 (2), pp. 272-284 : 274

Telchin atymnius drucei (Schaus, 1911)

( Fig. 1B )

Castnia drucei Schaus, 1911 [ Costa Rica]

Castnia humboldti f. rufolimba Strand, 1913 [ Costa Rica]

Castniomera drucei, Chacón & Montero, 2007 : pl 23.

A curious ssp., very variable and similar to T. a. humboldti (Boisduval, [1875]) , but tend to be smaller (González & Salazar 2003, González et al. 2010). A thorough morphological and/or molecular study could eventually provide a definitive taxonomic status of this subspecies ( González & Domagała 2019). This ssp. is frequently found in Costa Rica, but specimens are known from Panama and Northwestern South America ( González & Domagała 2019). Even though this is the first specimen of the ssp. we have seen collected north of Costa Rica, it is not necessarily surprising. However, without other specimens from that country and from Nicaragua, we could think that the specimen could have been mislabeled.

Material examined: HONDURAS: 1 Ƌ, C. saluja , 954, Staudinger 1894. Castnia humboldti var. rufolimba, Strand, Strecker coll. 25598, FMNH-INS 0000 041 4 71 ( FMNH)

Figures

FIGURE 1: Giant butterfly-moths (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) from Honduras and Nicaragua. A. Ƌ, Telchin cacica procera (Boisduval, [1875]), Morazán, Honduras (UNAH, Honduras); B. Ƌ, Telchin atymnius drucei (Schaus, 1911), Honduras (Streck- er Collection, FMNH, Chicago, USA); C. ♀, Telchin atymnius futilis (Walker, 1856), Atlántida, Honduras (CURLA, Honduras); D. Ƌ, Telchin evalthe viryi (Boisduval, [1875]), Honduras (Strecker Collection, FMNH, Chicago, USA); E. Ƌ, Telchin diva diva (Butler, 1870), Carazo, Nicaragua (MEL, Nicaragua); F. Ƌ, Telchin licus microsticta (Rothschild, 1919), Atlántida, Honduras (CURLA); G. Ƌ, (Type), Athis inca inca Walker, 1854, Honduras (NHMUK, London); H. Ƌ, Athis clitarcha (Westwood, 1877), Atlántida, Honduras (CURLA); I. ♀, Prometheus zagraea salvina (Westwood, 1877), Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua (EVDB). Scale: 10 mm.