Lyces angulosa Walker, 1854

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 : 765-766

Lyces angulosa Walker , revised status Figures 320A, 320I , 322 ; plate 29 [EX]

Lyces angulosa Walker, 1854: 367 . TYPE LOCALITY: ‘‘Brazil’’. TYPE: Syntype ♀, ex Stevens Collection

(BMNH).

Ephialtias morena Warren, 1906: 411 . New synonymy. TYPE LOCALITY: Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. TYPE: Holotype ³ (USNM type no. 9166).

DISCUSSION: Because angulosa is the type species of Lyces , a genus reinstated in the current work, considerable effort was spent attempting to resolve its identity. There appears to be a significant amount of intraspecific variation in the width and shape of the yellow-orange transverse FW band, and in the shape and size of the yellow-orange HW area, all of which contributed to making this a particularly difficult identification problem.

Lyces angulosa can be characterized by its relatively large size (FW length 5 16.5– 21.5 mm), by having a slightly curved, light yellow to lemon-yellow transverse band in the FW, and by having a mostly rounded central area of the HW (pl. 29). The majority of material in museum collections from Pelotas, Brazil, identified by C. Biezanko as ‘‘ L. vittula ’’, a species now in the new genus Proutiella , is instead L. angulosa . A female from Teresopolis, Brazil, somewhat further north than the majority of material examined, matches the type precisely. Its genitalia ( JSM- 1492) are indistinguishable from more southerly females. Lyces angulosa occurs exclusively in the Atlantic forests of central and southeastern Brazil.

Dissection of the USNM type of Ephialtias morena Warren ( JSM- 1379), from Rio Grande do Sul, previously regarded as a distinct species ( Bryk, 1930), shows that its male genitalia are identical with those of L. angulosa . Its wing pattern is also the same. For these reasons I propose morena as a new synonym of L. angulosa .

The following is an undescribed Lyces species, perhaps related to L. angulosa : ³, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, 7 Aug 1932, leg. P. Gagarin, MPM (genitalia slide no. JSM-556); ♀, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, MPM (genitalia slide no. JSM- 557).

DISTRIBUTION: Brazil (AMNH, BMNH, FML, MCZ, MNHN, MPM, NMW, OUMNH, PMNH, USNM, VOB, ZMH).

DISSECTED: ³, Brazil, Pelotas , Rio Grande do Sul, 27 Jan 1952, leg. C. Biezanko, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-426 ) ; ³, Brazil, Pelotas , Rio Grande do Sul, 12 Jan 1957, leg. C. Biezanko, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1503 ) ; ³ type of morena Warren, USNM (genitalia slide no. JSM-1379 ) ; ³, [no data], USNM (genitalia slide no. JSM-713 ) ; ³, [no data], H.G. Dyar collection, USNM (genitalia slide no. JSM-719 ) ; ³, Brazil, Pelotas , Rio Grande do Sul, 12 Dec 1954, leg. C. Biezanko, AMNH (wing slide no. JSM-1665 ) ; ♀, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Teresopolis , 22 ° 27 9 S, 42 ° 59 9 W, 1000 m, 29 Sept 1994, leg. A. Caldas, USNM (genitalia slide no. JSM-1492 ) ; ♀, Brazil, Pelotas , Rio Grande do Sul, 16 Jan 1955, leg. C. Biezanko, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-427 ) ; ♀, Brazil, H.G. Dyar collection, USNM (genitalia slide no. JSM-720 ) ; ♀, [no data], ex Colln. Brooklyn Museum , AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1485 ) .

Figures

Fig. 320. Morphology of Lyces (³³). A, head of L. angulosa, lateral view; B, head of L. patula, lateral view; C, head of L. patula, frontal view; D, head of L. patula, posterior view; E, L. ena labial palpus; F, L. striata labial palpus; G, L. attenuata labial palpus; H, L. ariaca head, lateral view; I, L. angulosa wings (illustration by J.S. Miller).

Fig. 322. Genitalia of Lyces angulosa (³ JSM-713, ♀ JSM-1485). A, ³ genitalia; B, ³ St8; C, aedeagus; D, ³ Tg8; E, ♀ genitalia (illustration by A. Trabka).