Lyces cruciata (Butler), 1875

Miller, James S, 2009, Generic Revision Of The Dioptinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Notodontidae) Part 2: Josiini, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2009 (321), pp. 675-1022 : 774

Lyces cruciata (Butler) , new combination Plate 31 [EX]

Josia cruciata Butler, 1875: 340 .

TYPE LOCALITY: Panama, Veragua.

TYPE: Syntype ♀, ‘‘75? 28’’, leg. Salvin ( BMNH).

DISCUSSION: This is another Patula Group species taken from Josia Hübner and placed in Lyces as a new combination. Based on my species concepts, L. cruciata shows a relatively restricted geographical distribution, occurring from the Osa Peninsula of southwestern Costa Rica (fig. 4) south to Veraguas, Panama. On the other hand, the species with which L. cruciata is essentially identical in size and wing pattern, L. annulata , is broadly distributed across northern South America, south to Bolivia and Brazil. The life history of Lyces cruciata was discovered by independent research groups in Costa Rica and Panama (table 6). The caterpillars feed on Passiflora menispermifolia .

According to Prout (1918), the type locality for cruciata is in Panama. The label data on the type and in the original description ( Butler, 1875) give the locality as ‘‘Veragua’’. The state of Veraguas, Panama, would be closest to this name. Butler also gives ‘‘Salvin’’ as the collector. Salvin collected extensively throughout Costa Rica and Panama.

Butler’s description of cruciata (1875: 340) is misleading. He described the body as ‘‘black above, head and thorax spotted with orange, metathorax orange’’. However, the prominent, orange transverse band straddles the base of A1 (pl. 31), not the metathorax. On the head, Lp1, Lp2, the front, and the occiput are orange. Overall, there appears to be a great deal of variation in the amount of orange scaling on the body of this species, including tremendous variation in the width of the longitudinal FW and HW stripes.

DISTRIBUTION: Costa Rica (AMNH, CAS, INBio, USNM); Panama (AMNH, BMNH, CAS, CMNH, FNHM, LAC, MUSNM, NMW, ZMH).

DISSECTED: ³, Costa Rica, Osa Peninsula, Corcovado Park, Sirena Station 995, 15 Jan 1989, leg. C.N. Duckett, reared on Passiflora menispermifolia, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-552); ³, Panama, Barro Colorado, Canal Zone, 9 Feb 1936, leg. Gertsch, Lutz, Wood, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1709); ³, Panama, Chiriquí, BMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-308); ♀, Panama, Barro Colorado, Canal Zone, 11 Mar 1936, leg. F.E. Lutz, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1710).