Vanewrightia patawaensis ( Cerda, 2017 ) Boppré & Grados & Laguerre & Monzón, 2020

Boppré, Michael, Grados, Juan, Laguerre, Michel & Monzón, Julio, 2020, Vanewrightia gen. nov. - A Highly Variable Taxon of Neotropical Ctenuchina (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Arctiini) Revealed by Behavioral Traits, Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (5), No. 4, pp. 1-19 : 10

Vanewrightia patawaensis ( Cerda, 2017) comb. nov.

Figure 8B and C

Loxozona patawaensis Cerda, 2017: 152 , Pl. 4, fig. 14 (1 ♂). Type locality: FRENCH GUIANA. Type depository: private collection of J.-A. Cerda, French Guiana.

Comments. Described from a unique male collected by day at flowers near Camp Patawa in French Guiana. The species is clearly similar to the holotype of V. kiesela ( Fig. 3A ) especially on the underside ; it is not known if there is intraspecific variation. The oblique yellow band on the forewing is slightly longer, reaching vein 1A+2A instead of CuA 2, there is no basal patch but only some very faint yellowish lines along the veins. On the hindwings, the only visible pattern is a complex network of faint yellowish lines and scales in and around the cell; hindwing uppersides greatly resemble a specimen from Venezuela ( VE03 ; cf. Figs. 8B and 11C ; see Discussion). The head, patagia, tegulae, and thorax are largely dark with only faint yellow lines ; the abdomen is dark gray with some yellowish hairs. Beneath, the palpi are orange-yellow not white. The white abdomen is bordered by a row of yellow hairs on each side. On the forewings, the basal patch is reduced to some whitish and yellow streaks, and on the hindwings, the yellow basal area is crossed by four narrow, blackish bands: one at the anal border, one anterior to vein 1A+2A, one in the cell and one just posterior to the costa. The yellow area is scattered with blackish scales. In the male genitalia ( Fig. 8C ), the valvae are longer, clearly extending beyond the tip of the uncus, their extremities abruptly narrowed in the last third and the tip acutely pointed. In lateral view, the extremity has a dorsally bent spoonshape, and the uncus is evenly curved without any widening. The vinculum is angled with a small saccus. The process of the vesica has a clear, sclerotized bar more or less in continuous with the phallus.

Potentially, V. patawaensis is a variant of V. subflavescens and/ or V. kiesela ; however, currently, there is no objective reason for any such assumption (see Discussion). Definitely, it does not belong to Loxozona but to Vanewrightia because the male genitalia are similar to V. kiesela and very different from Loxozona , and the pointed forewing apex differs from the rounded forewing in Loxozona which in turn always displays a completely unmarked hindwing underside.

Figures

Fig. 8. Holotypes of (A) Napata subflavescens Kaye, 1911 and (B) Loxozona patawaensis Cerda, 2017, both here transferred to Vanewrightia gen. nov.; left upperside, right underside. (C) Genitalia (dorsal, ventral, phallus) of V. patawaensis. Courtesy of B. Hermier (A) and J.-A. Cerda (B); (B, C) from Cerda (2017). Scale bars = (A, B) 1 cm, (C) 1 mm.

Fig. 3. Extreme variants of Vanewrightia kiesela sp. nov., arrows pointing to shared diagnostic characters; see text;left upperside,right underside.Details on specimen codes inTable 2. Scale bar = 1 cm.

Fig. 11. Examples of unnamed moths housed in the NHMUK and showing characters typical for Vanewrightia gen.nov.; see text; left upperside, right underside. (A‒E) Group A (D is mirrored because the specimen misses the left forewing). (F‒K) Group B. (L) Group C.Details on specimen codes inTable 2. Photographs by Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London. Scale bar = 1 cm.