Oligocentria brunnipennis Kaye, 1923

Cock, Matthew J. W., 2021, A new species and taxonomic changes relating to the Notodontidae (Lepidoptera) of Trinidad, West Indies, Zootaxa 5020 (2), pp. 307-327 : 315-317

Oligocentria brunnipennis Kaye, 1923 , stat. rev. ( Notodontidae , Heterocampinae )

( Figs. 9 , 10 )

Oligocentria guianensis Thiaucourt, 2015 , syn. nov.

Kaye (1923) described and illustrated Rifargia brunnipennis from Trinidad (Palmiste, 25 December 1920, N. Lamont), and Kaye and Lamont (1927) repeated this record. I have examined the female type in NMS ( Bland 2010).

Schaus (1928) placed R. brunnipennis in synonymy with Oligocentria violascens (Herrich-Schäffer, 1855) (in Herrich-Schäffer 1850–1858), which has been followed by subsequent authors, including Schintlmeister (2013) and Becker (2014), the latter as Oligocentria brunnipennis Kaye, 1901 an incorrect combination and date. Schintlmeister (2013) recognised the genus Oligocentria (type species Notodonta violascens Herrich-Schäffer ) as valid, but Becker considered Oligocentria to be a synonym of Ianassa Walker, 1855 (type species Ianassa lignicolor Walker, 1855 ). Thiaucourt (2015) treated Oligocentria as a valid genus in line with Schintlmeister (2013), although he took no formal taxonomic action to reverse the treatment of Becker (2014). Miller et al. (2021) concluded that both genera are valid, but that while Ianassa is essentially a North American genus, Oligocentria is Central and South American. Therefore, O. violascens , and its hitherto recognised synonyms including brunnipennis , are reinstated in Oligocentria ( Thiaucourt 2015, Miller et al. 2021).

Oligocentria brunnipennis (as here recognised) is an occasional species in Trinidad associated with suburban and disturbed areas (author’s unpublished data, Fig. 9 ). It has not been recorded from Tobago ( Cock 2017). Sexual dimorphism is strong throughout Oligocentria , and it is not immediately obvious that the two sexes belong to the same species. Female Trinidad material was identified as O. brunnipennis by comparison with the type (NMS, ♀ TL Trinidad), and males associated by comparison with the NHMUK series of O. violascens , then considered a senior synonym, and elimination of other possibilities in Trinidad.

Specimens from Trinidad are generally smaller than the Brazilian population of O. violascens in the NHMUK, and the female has a weaker violet sheen. Thiaucourt (2015) also noticed this size difference when he realised that the population of O. violascens in French Guiana differed from Brazilian O. violascens , particularly with regard to the A8 sternite and tergite of the male. Accordingly, Thiaucourt described Oligocentria guianensis Thiaucourt, 2015 as a new species, and illustrated the male terminalia of both species. I compared the male terminalia of a Trinidad specimen ( Fig. 10 ) with those figured by Thiaucourt (2015), and found them to be identical. Accordingly, I conclude that O. brunnipennis Kaye, 1923 , stat rev. is a valid species, of which O. guianensis Thiaucourt is a synonym.

Trinidad material examined. Curepe, at light: ♀ 7.ix.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC]. Curepe , MVL : ♂ 7.viii.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC] ; ♂ 25.viii.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1532] ; ♂ 9.xi.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1535] ; ♂ 23.xi.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1534] ; ♂ 6.i.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ NHMUK] ; ♂ 23.i.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC] ; ♂ 23.ix.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1533] ; ♂ 26.ix.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1536] ; ♂ 25.xii.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC, M.J.W. Cock dissection

1024]; ♀ 14–19.ix.1981 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC]. Palmiste : ♀ 25.xii.1920 (type of brunnipennis Kaye ) [N. Lamont] [ NMS] ; ♀ 1.ii.1922 [N. Lamont] [ UWIZM.2013.13.1833] ; ♀ 12.i.1926 [N. Lamont] [ UWIZM.2013.13.1832] ; ♀ 24.ix.1947 [N. Lamont] [ UWIZM.2013.13.1830] ; ♀ 22.x.1947 [N. Lamont] [ UWIZM.2013.13.1831]. [Palmiste] : ♀ [N. Lamont] [ NMS] .

Figures

FIGURE 9. Oligocentria brunnipennis from Trinidad, left, male dorsal and ventral views, Curepe, MVL trap, 23.i.1979; Right female dorsal and ventral views, Curepe, at light, 7.ix.1979.

FIGURE 10. Male terminalia of Oligocentria brunnipennis, Trinidad, Curepe, MVL trap, 25.xii.1979 [MJWC, dissection 1024]. A–D, genitalia: A, dorsal view; B, ventral view; C, lateral view; D, dorsolateral view. E–F, A8 sclerites: E, tergite (left) and sternite (right), external view; F, tergite (right) and sternite (left), internal view. G–I, aedeagus: E, lateral view from left; F, dorsal view; G lateral view from right. All to scale as shown (i.e. x10).