Telchin atymnius drucei ( Schaus, 1911 )

García-Díaz, José De Jesús, Espinoza-Sanabria, Bernardo A., Worthy, Robert, González, Jorge M., Janzen, Daniel H. & Hallwachs, Winnie, 2024, Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Costa Rica, Zootaxa 5481 (2), pp. 151-202 : 160-161

5. Telchin atymnius drucei ( Schaus, 1911)

( Figs. 2C, 2D , 11F, 11G , 13B ) (BIN: BOLD:AEH7336)

Castnia drucei Schaus, 1911 ; Schaus, 1911. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (8) 7 (38), p. 191.

Castnia humboldti f. rufolimba ; Strand, 1913, in Seitz. Die Gross-Schmett. der Erde vol. 6, p. 8., pl. 1, fig. c1.

Castniomera (Phaeosema) drucei ; Houlbert, 1918. Étud. Lép. Comp. 15, pp. 63, 213, 680, 721, pl. CDXLIII, figs. 3789– 3790.

Castniomera drucei ; Miller, 1995, in Heppner. Castnioidea: Castniidae : Castniinae , Checklist part 2, Atlas Neo. Lep. , p. 135.

Castniomera atymnius drucei ; Lamas, 1995. Revta. Per. Ent. 37, p. 80.

General comments. This Central American subspecies of T. atymnius differs greatly from the rest of the known subspecies since both males and females have an orange base-color on their dorsal hindwing. Both sexes have a dorsal forewing pattern similar to most T. atymnius subspecies, they are also sexually dimorphic. Telchin atymnius drucei was described (as Castnia drucei ) by Schaus based on at least a male and a female from four different locations in Costa Rica ( Schaus 1911; González 2024). It has been confused with T. licus by some authors in Costa Rica ( LAICA 2017; García-Díaz 2022a). Lamas (1995) considered it to be a subspecies of Castniomera atymnius (= T. atymnius ). It is vaguely similar to Telchin atymnius humboldti , since the base color of the dorsal hindwing is reddish-orange; however, the whitish discal band of the dorsal hindwing starts after the final vein of the discal cell, whereas in T. a. humboldti it starts from the costal margin ( González et al. 2010; González & Domagała 2019; Van den Berghe et al. 2020). Some authors have reported this subspecies in South America, but they are probably very reddish T. a. humboldti specimens ( González et al. 2010). To assess the limits between subspecies, a study involving a broad review of specimens of T. atymnius from Mexico to South America is needed.

Ecology and behavior. Citizen scientists have posted photographs of this subspecies in iNaturalist (2023), showing it associated with different species of Heliconia ( Heliconiaceae ), with some females ovipositing on the lower part of the plants close to the ground, as reported for T. a. futilis ( García-Díaz 2022a) . Kirby Wolfe (pers. comm.) recorded Heliconia episcopalis Vell., 1827 as its host plant in Santiago, Puriscal, San José, Costa Rica; while the second author (B. Espinoza) recorded Heliconia rostrata Ruiz & Pav., 1802 as its host in Concepción, San Rafael, Heredia, Costa Rica. Gernot Kunz (pers. comm.) has observed males and females flying together during the day (mainly around noon) in three different locations in the canton of Golfito, Puntarenas, Costa Rica; he mentions that the males are territorial and perch on leaves or branches of heliconias or other plants close to their hosts, possibly waiting for passing females to court and follow and eventually to mate; females are slower flyers than males, they are not territorial, and are often observed hovering around their host plants near the ground before ovipositing, similar to T. a. futilis ( García-Díaz 2022a) .

Studies of population dynamics carried out in two sugarcane farms of the Quebrada Azul Sugar Mill in San Carlos, Alajuela, Costa Rica, by Salazar-Blanco et al. (2018) and Cadet-Piedra et al. (2019), concluded that T. a. drucei and T. a. futilis fly together. Here, both subspecies are bivoltine with a small emergence of adults in March– May and a second larger emergence during September–November. Larger numbers of adults of both subspecies were collected when rainfall was low, temperature was above 25°C and the relative humidity was below 90% ( LAICA 2016, 2017).

Chacón & Montero (2007) illustrated a final instar larva resembling that of Paysandisia archon (Burmeister, 1880) , showing the patterns characteristic of larvae of the family ( Miller 1986; EPPO 2011). The thoracic legs are distinctive, the body is creamy-white except for the sclerotized head capsule and sections of the pronotum, having scattered setae on the thorax and abdominal segments, and small dorsal patches of spinules are also observed in the abdominal segments. However, Chacón & Montero (2007) did not mention the host plants and did not describe the life cycle of T. a. drucei .

Distribution and biogeography. This subspecies has been reported from Costa Rica, Panama, northwestern South America, and Brazil ( González & Salazar 2003; González et al. 2010; González & Domagała 2019; Van den Berghe et al. 2020); however, the South American records are possibly very reddish drucei -like specimens of T. a. humboldti , or incorrectly labeled specimens ( González et al. 2010). The confusion between subspecies in the literature and the lack of taxonomic and distributional limits between subspecies make it difficult to understand the group. Based on specimens in collections and data from iNaturalist (2023), T. a. drucei can be easily separated from other T. atymnius subspecies. It appears that drucei is restricted to the Pacific slope of Costa Rica and northern Panama. Based on Van den Berghe et al. (2020) and Maes & González (2022), this taxon has not been reported from Nicaragua or Honduras.According to the biogeographic provinces proposed by Morrone et al. (2022), in Costa Rica this subspecies flies mostly in localities that belong to the Puntarenas-Chiriquí province of the Pacific dominion and the Pacific Lowlands province of the Mesoamerican dominion, both in the Brazilian subregion. In northern Costa Rica, it has been recorded in localities that belong to the Guatuso-Talamanca province. This taxon has been reported from the following provinces and cantons: Alajuela: Alajuela, Atenas, Grecia, Orotina, San Carlos, San Mateo, San Ramón; Cartago: La Unión; Guanacaste: Abangares, Hojancha, Nicoya, Santa Cruz; Heredia: Belén, San Rafael, Santa Bárbara, Santo Domingo; Limón: Pococí; Puntarenas: Aguirre, Buenos Aires, Corredores, Coto Brus, Garabito, Golfito, Osa, Puntarenas, Quepos; San José: Acosta, Alajuelita, Curridabat, Desamparados, Escazú, Goicoechea, Mora, Moravia, Pérez Zeledón, Puriscal, San José, Santa Ana, Tarrazú, Turrubares, Vázquez de Coronado.

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–B: Telchin atymnius futilis; A: ♂, Alajuela, Cariblanco, Cuesta Angel, 15-V-82, R. Canet, 750m, INBIOCRI001055978 (MNCR); B: ♀, Prov. Alajuela, San Ramón, Est. Biol. Villa Blanca, Send. Higuerón, 1115m, 18MAY- 6JUN 2009, R. Rojas, Colecta libre, L_N_242482_483371, # 97580, INB0004223743, MNCR-A4223743 (MNCR); C–D: Telchin atymnius drucei; C: ♂, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula, 5–14 Aug 1978, D. H. Janzen, INBIOCRI002607807, MNCR-A2607807 (MNCR); D: ♀, Prov. Heredia, Santo Domingo, Santa Rosa, INBio. 1100m, 30 OCT 2001, J. Montero, Manual, L_N_217300_526200. #64940, INB0003380476, MNCR-A3380476 (MNCR). Scale bar = 2cm.

FIGURE 11. A–C: Telchin evalthe tica; A: ♂, Pococí, Limón, 03-IV-2008 (photo: Steven Daniel); B: ♂, Coto Brus, Puntarenas, 27-V-2022 (photo: Randall Jiménez); C: ♀, Golfito, Puntarenas, 12-VII-2008 (photo: Gernot Kunz); D–E: Telchin licus microsticta; D: ♀, Alajuela, San Ramón, 22-IV-2020 (photo: Gustavo Orozco); E: ♂, San Carlos, Alajuela, 29-V-2023 (photo: Colin Allen); F–G: Telchin atymnius drucei; F: ♂, Golfito, Puntarenas, 18-I-2022 (photo: Heiner Ziegler); G: ♀, Puriscal, San José, 31-VIII-2022 (photo: Kirby Wolfe); H–I: Telchin atymnius futilis; H: ♂, Pococí, Limón, 16-I-2020 (photo: Alexandre Terrigeol); I: ♀, Sarapiquí, Heredia, 26-II-2022 (photo: Kyle Horner).

FIGURE 13. Distribution maps of the genus Telchin in Costa Rica. A: T. atymnius futilis; B: T. atymnius drucei; C: T. evalthe tica; D: T. licus microsticta.