Mesene epaphus pyrrha Bates, 1868

Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Siewert, Ricardo Russo, Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik & Casagrande, Mirna Martins, 2016, Mesene Doubleday (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) from Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, Acre, Brazil, with taxonomic notes and the description of a new species, Zootaxa 4175 (5), pp. 463-472 : 470

Mesene epaphus pyrrha Bates, 1868

( Figs 21–24, 26–28 , 39 , 44 )

A single male was collected in 2014 on the hilltop flying slowly about two meters from the ground around 17:00h. Mesene epaphus is a highly variable species ( Hall & Harvey 2002), with four names proposed to describe its diversity. Three of those names are recognized as valid subspecies ( Callaghan & Lamas 2004): the nominative subspecies, described from Surinam, is characterized by the reddish orange ground color of the apex of the forewing upper side ( Fig. 25 ); M. epaphus pyrrha Bates, 1868 , described from Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil, is characterized by the black ground color of the apex of the forewing, with white and reddish orange subapical and submarginal spots ( Figs 21–22, 28 ); and M. epaphus sertata Stichel, 1910 , also described from Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil, is an intermediate between the phenotypes of typical epaphus and pyrrha , with the forewing apex mostly reddish orange, but with the white subapical spot visible throughout the reddish orange ground color ( Figs 26–27 ). Hall & Harvey (2002) downgraded M. pyrrha to a subspecies of M. epaphus , and, observing the high variability, suggested that probably no subspecies of M. epaphus should be recognized. We studied several western Amazon specimens of M. epaphus deposited at the DZUP ( Figs 21–22, 26–28 ), and observed a number of variable intermediate phenotypes between the sertata and pyrrha from a single locality, with identical morphology of the male genitalia. Therefore, we recognize M. epaphus sertata Stichel, 1910 syn. nov. as a new junior synonym of M. epaphus pyrrha . The taxonomic status of M. epaphus pyrrha , which occurs in the western Amazon basin, in relation to the nominative subspecies, only known from the northeast of the Amazon basin, needs further research. Due to distribution of CAS and morphology of the male genitalia, this species belongs to the “ phareus ” species group.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 32. Mesene species from Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, Acre, Brazil (unless otherwise indicated), in dorsal and ventral views. 1 – 2 M. gracielae sp. nov., male holotype. 3 – 4 M. monostigma monostigma, male from Santa Rosa do Purus, Acre, Brazil. 5 – 8 M. nepticula stigmosa, 5 – 6 male; 7 – 8 female. 9 – 12 M. eupteryx stat. rest., 9 – 10 male from Senador Guiomard, Acre, Brazil; 11 – 12 female. 13 – 14 M. nola, male from Alto Alegre, Roraima, Brazil. 15 – 20 M. paraena, 15 – 16 male from Cáceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil; 17 – 18 male; 19 – 20 female. 21 – 28 M. epaphus (23 – 28 upper side left, underside right), 21 – 22 M. epaphus pyrrha, male; 23 female from Porto Acre, Acre, Brazil; 24 female from Senador Guiomard, Acre, Brazil; 25 M. epaphus epaphus, male from Belém, Pará, Brazil; 26 M. epaphus pyrrha, male from São Paulo de Olivença, Amazonas, Brazil; 27 – 28, M. epaphus pyrrha, males from Senador Guiomard, Acre, Brazil. 29 – 32 M. leucophrys, 29 – 30 male from Santa Rosa do Purus, Acre, Brazil; 31 – 32 female. Scale bar 1 cm.

FIGURES 33 – 40. Male genitalia of Mesene species from Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, Acre, Brazil (unless otherwise indicated), in lateral view. 33 M. gracielae sp. nov., holotype. 34 M. monostigma monostigma. 35 M. nepticula stigmosa. 36 M. eupteryx stat. rest. from Senador Guiomard, Acre, Brazil (DZ 36.494). 37 M. nola from Alto Alegre, Roraima, Brazil (DZ 36.794). 38 M. paraena. 39 M. epaphus pyrrha. 40 M. leucophrys. Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 41 – 45. Female genitalia of Mesene species from Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, Acre, Brazil (unless otherwise indicated), in ventral view. 41, M. nepticula stigmosa. 42, M. eupteryx stat. rest. 43, M. paraena. 44, M. epaphus pyrrha from Porto Acre, Acre, Brazil (DZ 36.504). 45, M. leucophrys. Scale bar 1 mm.