Chlamydastis phytoptera (Busck)

Phillips-Rodríguez, Eugenie, Brown, John W., Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H., 2021, Chlamydastis Meyrick of Costa Rica: barcodes, biology, and descriptions of 36 new species (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae), Insecta Mundi 2021 (868), pp. 1-96 : 22-23

Chlamydastis phytoptera (Busck)

Figures 18 , 65 , 103

Stenoma phytoptera Busck 1914: 44 ; Brown et al. 2004: 112.

Chlamydastis phytoptera: Becker 1984: 34 .

Lectotype (designated herein). Male, Costa Rica, Sixola [= Sixaola] River, W. Schaus, USNM Type No. 16720, USNM slide 13,192 ( USNM).

Specimens Examined (26♂, 1♀). See Appendix 1.

Diagnosis. Chlamydastis phytoptera is superficially most similar to C. christhompsoni but can be distinguished by the position of the small white marking in the FW, which in C. christhompsoni is crescent-shaped and basal to the dark brown blotch, rather than apical to it. In the male genitalia, the shape of the distal portion of the valva is rounded in C. phytoptera and squarish in C. christhompsoni .

Redescription. MALE ( Fig. 18 ). Head. Frons and vertex whitish, collar light brown; labial palpus with first segment brown, second segment brown in basal 0.5, whitish in distal 0.5, third segment whitish with a subapical brown ring; antenna with sensory setae ca. 1.5 times width of flagellomere. Thorax. Dorsum and tegula mostly grayish brown. FW length 9.4–10.4 mm; FW mostly brown with some irregular faint brown and green mottling; a distinct dark brown, semicircular blotch near middle of termen with a smaller white to cream subovoid spot adjacent to its apical edge and an ill-defined green blotch near middle of hind margin. HW dark gray. Abdomen. Brown on dorsum, cream on venter, with cream scales externally on genitalia; last segment with a pair of short, triangular, distal processes from dorsum (visible on descaled abdomen, Fig. 65a ). Genitalia ( Fig. 65 ) with uncus ca. 0.5 length of valva; gnathos well developed; valva ovate, with rounded apex, weakly veined, with dense cluster of specialized setae from near mid-costa; sacculus short, subtriangular, with a free distal end, confined to basal 0.2 of valva; lateral lobes of juxta minute; phallus slightly curved with long sclerite in vesica.

FEMALE. Head and Thorax. Essentially as described for male, except sensory setae of antenna short, sparse; FW length 12.2–14.3 mm. Abdomen. Genitalia ( Fig. 103 ) with papillae anales slightly diverging and rounded posteriorly, with conspicuous longitudinal line of sclerotization in basal 0.5; ductus bursae slender, ca. 10 times as long as width at middle, slightly longer than corpus bursae, slightly broadened near ill-defined junction with corpus bursae; corpus bursae ovoid; signum subrectangular, ca. 3 times as long as wide, somewhat peanut-shaped.

DNA barcodes. The 53 barcode sequences of C. phytoptera form a BIN (BOLD:AAA1079) with an average distance of 0.57% among the sequences, and a distance of 6.58% to its nearest neighbor, C. christompsoni . GenBank accession code is MH827048 for 12-SRNP-105632.

Distribution. This species has been recorded from Panama and Costa Rica. In Costa Rica it has been collected from 300 to 1200 m in dry and rain forest.

Biology. The immatures and food plants are unknown.

Remarks. Although Busck (1914: 44) gave no indication of how many specimens he examined, there are two specimens from his type series of Stenoma phytoptera in the USNM collection, both of which bear a red “Type” label indicating USNM type catalog number 16720. One is a female from Trinidad River, Panama and the other a male from Sixola [= Sixaola] River, Costa Rica. The designation of multiple “types” is typical of works from the early part of the 19 th century before the concept of a single holotype was firmly established. In his description of the species, Busck lists “Habitat. – Trinidad River, Panama, March,” suggesting that the female is intended to be the “type,” and based on this, Brown et al. (2004) listed the female as “ holotype.” However, at the end of the description Busck states: “I also have this showy species from Sixola River, Costa Rica, W. Schaus, collector.” Because the two specimens were believed by Busck to be conspecific and both are clearly labeled as “type,” we consider both specimens to be syntypes. Based on facies alone, the two may be different species, and because the genitalia slide of the female is presumed lost and that specimen is in considerably poorer condition, we herein designate the male as the lectotype.

Figures

Figures 16–22. Adults of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Mendoron and Phytoptera Species Groups. 16) C. carlosviquezi, holotype, male, 09-SRNP-107366. 17) C. christerhanssoni, holotype, male, INBIOCRI000844209. 18) C. phytoptera, male, 12-SRNP-105632. 19) C. christhompsoni, male, holotype, 09-SRNP-20126. 20) C. paulhansoni, male, holotype, INB0004269422.21) C. elenaulateae, female, paratype, 03-SRNP-10412.22) C. gladysrojasae, female, paratype, 06-SRNP-109148.

Figures 65–69. Male genitalia (phallus detached) of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Phytoptera Species Group. 65) C. phytoptera, 10-SRNP-101654 (65a = last abdominal segment). 66) C. christhompsoni, paratype, INBI- OCRI000543326 (66a = last abdominal segment). 67) C. paulhansoni, paratype, INBIOCRI0004269421. 68) C. elenaulateae, paratype, 10-SRNP-1458. 69) C. gladysrojasae, paratype, 09-SRNP-101325.

Figures 103–110. Female genitalia of Chlamydastis. 103) C. phytoptera, INBIOCRI000650708. 104) C. christhompsoni, paratype, INBIOCRI002553979. 105) C. elenaulateae, paratype, 03-SRNP-10412. 106) C. gladysrojasae, paratype, 08-SRNP-102184. 107) C. powelli, paratype, 06-SRNP-3185. 108) C. isidrochaconi, paratype, INB00151483. 109) C. jimlewisi, paratype, INB0073276. 110) C. jimmilleri, paratype, INB003326762.