Chlamydastis powelli Phillips and Brown, 2021

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 : 27-29

Chlamydastis powelli Phillips and Brown , new species

Figures 23, 24 , 70 , 107 , 130

Holotype. Male, Costa Rica, Guanacaste, ACG, Sector Pailas, Palmeras , 1368 m, 10.vi.2010, H. Cambronero and S. Rios, 10-SRNP-114461, GenBank accession code JN284982 ( USNM).

Paratypes (32♂, 21♀). See Appendix 1.

Diagnosis. Males of C. powelli are superficially most similar to those of C. gracewoodae ( Fig. 25, 26 ) and C. juanmatai ( Fig. 27 ), but the three species can be distinguished by subtle features of the genitalia and by barcodes. In the male genitalia of C. powelli the sacculus is broader; the lateral processes of the juxta are shorter and wider; and the venter of the phallobase opposite of the ductus ejaculatoris is narrower and more strongly curved. The female genitalia of C. powelli are most similar to those of C. gracewoodae and can be distinguished by the length of the posterior apophysis, which is shorter in C. powelli .

Description. MALE ( Fig. 23 ). Head. Vertex and frons white, collar white; labial palpus with first segment dark brown, second segment dark brown in basal 0.5, third segment with two narrow, light brown rings, one at base and one near tip; antenna with length of sensory setae ca. equal to width of flagellomere, a patch of long, fine, whitish scales along surface opposite of sensory setae, extending from pedicel to ca. 0.5 length of antenna. Thorax. Prothorax with a narrow brown band adjacent to collar and continuing over base of tegula; meso- and metathorax yellowish. FW length 8.6–9.8 mm; FW yellowish in basal 0.33, bordered by a narrow white line adjacent to a broad, brown, median fascia with a gently curved inner margin and extending from mid-costa to middle of hind margin; FW pale brown ocherous distad of median fascia, darker near middle of termen; small dark patches of raised scales near center of outer margin of median fascia, another patch closer to fascia at hind margin. HW grey. Abdomen. Externally grey with whitish scales on first and second segment dorsally. Genitalia ( Fig. 70 ) with uncus long, slender, rodlike; gnathos arms ca. 0.75 length of uncus with flattened distal process at junction of arms; valva with large subtriangular expansion near middle of lower (ventral) margin, valva rounded in distal 0.3, with dense patch of specialized setae near mid-costa; sacculus broad at base, slender, attenuate distally; basal portion (sacculus) and subtriangular mesial expansion bearing long hairpencils; juxta with short, broad, slightly rounded, lateral processes; phallobase narrow, conspicuously curved along venter opposite of ductus ejaculatoris; distal pointed process of phallus relatively straight; cornutus small, U-shaped, dentate distally ( Fig. 70a ).

FEMALE. Head. Essentially as described for male, except sensory setae of antenna short, sparse. Thorax. FW length 10.1–10.3 mm ( Fig. 24 ), costa gently arched throughout; FW ground color variable from pale brown ocherous to brown, with large, semicircular, dark brown blotch near middle of hind margin; a whitish narrow band followed by an oblique narrow brownish band adjacent to blotch. Abdomen. Genitalia ( Fig. 107 ) with papillae anales short, broad, slightly diverging and rounded posteriorly; anterior apophysis ca. 1.8 times length of posterior apophysis; ductus bursae long, slender, gradually broadened into corpus bursae (i.e., lacking distinct junction of ductus and corpus); signum U-shaped, situated at anterior end of corpus bursae, spiny at each distal 0.33, unspined in middle.

DNA barcodes. The 124barcode sequences of C. powelli occupy two BINS (BOLD:AAA0963and BOLD:ACE9459) separated by a shallow split with a distance of 1.44%, indicating that two species may be involved. However, we are unable to find morphological or ecological evidence in support of this. Adopting a conservative approach, we base our circumscription of C. powelli on BIN BOLD:AAA0963 in which there is an average distance of 0.13% among sequences. It is likely that the other BIN eventually will be shown to be a different species, as has been found in other species of Lepidoptera elsewhere with shallow splits among sequences (e.g., Huemer et al. 2018).

Distribution. Chlamydastis powelli is widely distributed in ACG from 400 m to 1400 m. It occurs in the dry forest in the rainy season, and throughout the year in Caribbean and Pacific evergreen forests.

Biology. Chlamydastis powelli has been reared from larvae feeding on Pouteria reticulata (Engl.) Eyma (n = 113) ( Sapotaceae ) ( Table 1).

Immature stages ( Fig. 130 ). Head and prothoracic shield reddish; T2, T3 and abdominal segments pale green with faint lateral reddish spots (representing lateral pinacula); A9 and A10 pale pinkish orange.

Parasitoids. Several parasitoids have been reared from C. powelli caterpillars, including the following: Hymenoptera : Microgastrinae : Hypomicrogaster Janzen 04 (n = 3, e.g., DHJPAR0041146), Dolichogenidea Janzen 36 (e.g., DHJPAR0041632); Diptera : Tachinidae : Tachininae : Genea Janzen 03 (e.g., DHJPAR0029596).

Etymology. Chlamydastis powelli is named in honor of Jerry A. Powell, mentor and professor of the first and second authors, in recognition of his many years of taxonomic support of the national biodiversity inventory of Costa Rica, and curation of the Costa Rican national collection.

Figures

Figures 23–31. Adults of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Tryphon and Molinella Species Groups. 23) C. powelli, male, holotype, 10-SRNP-114461. 24) C. powelli, female, paratype, 04-SRNP-33602. 25) C. gracewoodae, male, holotype, 06-SRNP-109407. 26). C. gracewoodae, female, paratype, 09-SRNP-105095. 27) C. juanmatai, male, holotype, INB0004269414. 28) C. isidrochaconi, male, paratype, INB0003041706. 29) C. isidrochaconi, female, paratype, INBIOCRI000263379. 30) C. jimlewisi, male, holotype, 11-SRNP-104260. 31) C. jimmilleri, male, paratype, INBIOCRI001755621.

Figures 70–73. Male genitalia (phallus detached) of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Tryphon Species Group. 70) C. powelli, 06-SRNP-107213, paratype. 71) C. gracewoodae, paratype, 10-SRNP-101168. 72) C. juanmatai, paratype, INB0004269413. 73) C. isidrochaconi, paratype, 11-SRNP-100689.

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.

Figures 130–134.Chlamydastis larvae. 130) C. powelli, 03-SRNP-4036.131) C. montywoodi, 05-SRNP-4827.132) C. johnnoyesi, 11-SRNP-55087. 133) C. manuelzumbadoi, 08-SRNP-70119. 134) C. vitorbeckeri, 07-SRNP-22603.