Daedalma rubroreducta Pyrcz & Willmott, 2011

Pyrcz, Tomasz W., Greeney, Harold F., Willmott, Keith R. & Wojtusiak, Janusz, 2011, 2898, Zootaxa 2898, pp. 1-68 : 18-20

Daedalma rubroreducta Pyrcz & Willmott , n. sp.

( Figs. 3C, 3D, 9C, 14C, 18A–E, 19A–E, 23B)

Material examined: ECUADOR: HOLOTYPE male: Morona-Santiago, Macas, Loma Tigrillo , 1700–1750 m, X.2002, I. Aldaz leg., red, rectangular label saying : Holotype, MZUJ; PARATYPES (9 males and 2 females) , 4 males: same data as the holotype, TWP ; 1 female: Ecuador , no further data, (prep. genit. 07- 01.07.2005), TWP ; 1 female: Napo, Yanayacu , 2000 m, H. Greeney (ex larva), TWP ; 1 male: same locality data as preceding but 24.XI.2006, K. Willmott leg., FLMNH ; 1 male: Napo, Baeza-Tena km 10, "1600" [=1850] m, 12.XII.1996, P. Boyer leg., PBF ; 1 male: Sucumbíos, km 2 La Bonita-Tulcán rd. , 2100 m, 01.I.2002, K. Willmott leg., KWJH ; 1 male: Tungurahua, Río Topo [mislabeled], ex. Grose-Smith, 1910, BMNH ; 1 male: Sarayacu, Eastern Side Ecuador [mislabeled], C. Buckley 1879, ex. Oberthür coll., 1927-3, BMNH .

Diagnosis: Differs from D. dinias by the FW orange patch extending into postdiscal area, similar to D. boliviana and D. fraudata , but differing from those species in the patch being slightly smaller and darker. On the underside, the FW orange patch is considerably fainter than in D. boliviana or D. fraudata , in most individuals obsolete, heavily overcast with brown and barely marked, in this respect being most similar to D. dinias emma .

Description: MALE ( Fig. 3C): Head: Eyes chocolate brown covered with dense setae; palpi twice the length of head, yellowish covered with chocolate brown hair; antennae 2/5 length of costa, dorsally brown, ventrally yellowish, club darker than shaft. Thorax: Dorsally and ventrally blackish, legs sandy yellow. Abdomen: Dorsally and laterally blackish, ventrally lighter dull brown. Wings: FW (length: 25-27 mm; 25.6 mm; n=5) costa slightly arched, outer margin protruded at vein M1 and slightly undulate. HW costa protruded at apex, outer margin undulate with two tail-like extensions at veins Cu1 and Cu2. Wings: FWD ground colour blackish brown; orange patch oval, smaller and slightly darker than in D. fraudata , with faint edges. HWD uniform blackish brown. FWV patch faint and diffuse, reddish, overcast with brown to such an extent that it is barely noticeable in some individuals. HWV overall darker than in D. fraudata with a heavier chocolate brown overcast, milky white postdiscal and submarginal patches smaller than in D. fraudata or obsolete. Genitalia ( Fig. 9C): Similar to D. fraudata except for the thinner uncus, considerably broader valvae in distal half, and a slightly deeper saccus.

FEMALE ( Fig. 3D): Differs from D. fraudata in fainter and slightly smaller FW orange patch, suffused along edges with some brown scaling. Genitalia ( Fig. 14C): Papillae anales small, with prominent bump on lateral side, slightly wrinkled wall of tuba analis. Lamella postvaginalis as a concave plate with a small protrusion pointing posteriorly. Bursa copulatrix pear-like, with two narrow and parallel signa consisting of minute teeth. Ductus bursae narrow, same length as the length of bursa copulatrix, connected with ductus seminalis in the middle. Lamella antevaginalis concave and shallow. Coliculum absent. Apophyses posteriores reduced.

Early stages: Host plant: Chusquea cf. scandens Poaceae (2100 m, Yanayacu, Napo, Ecuador).

EGGS: Data on morphology are not available, but newly emerged first instars were found in the field (see below) along a small road cut at the edge of an extensive patch of Chusquea (ca. 2 ha). The remains of the clutch ( Fig. 18B) were on the underside of a mature (fully expanded) leaf located at the tip of a small isolated shoot draping over the road.

FIRST INSTAR ( Figs. 18A): Head capsule shining black, nearly round but slightly broader at base; epicranial suture weak; body elongate, parallel-sided with little or no constriction behind the head, roughly round in cross section; body colour dull olive-green with a red-brown cast anteriorly and posteriorly, becoming all red-brown later in instar; body with sparse, pale setae, prothoracic shield poorly developed and dark brown. First instars originally rested in a tightly packed group on the underside of the food plant leaf, near where the eggs were laid. Later, prior to molt, larvae aggregate at the apex of the skeletonized food plant leaf, rearing back and regurgitating when disturbed. The first instar lasted at least 5 days.

SECOND INSTAR ( Figs. 18C, 18F): Early 2 nd second instar head capsule similar to first instar, but with a pair of small, rounded, bump-like scoli anterio-dorsally; immediately after molting head capsule dark olive-green, paler dorsally, but darkening to shiny black later in instar; head and body with sparse dark setae; body nearly parallel sided, tapering slightly posteriorly to small, dark-brown bifid tail, roughly square in cross section; dorsum redbrown, sides and venter dark brown to black; a faint mid-dorsal stripe extends from T1 to around A3, T1 extended subdorsally into two individual fleshy lobes. Late 2 nd Instar: Overall colour pattern similar but shape becoming more elongate and nearly round in cross section, fleshy protuberances on T1 disappearing; a pair of thin creamcoloured stripes develop dorsolaterally and extend back from T1, gradually fading posteriorly; bifid tail and margins of anal plate become cream coloured. Second instars remain aggregated along the skeletonized mid-vein of the leaf. The larvae measured 8 mm at premolt. The second instar lasted 9 days.

THIRD INSTAR ( Figs. 18D): Early 3 rd instar head capsule dull black with scoli becoming more prominent and light brown to cream coloured, appearing as an extension of dorsolateral cream stripes on T1. Otherwise similar in colour to late second instars, but with bifid tail more prominent, and setae becoming slightly denser and longer, especially on head scoli. Late 3 rd Instar: As described for early third instar, but abdomen laterally developing a complex pattern of cream coloured stripes surrounding narrow red-brown areas. This pattern fades anteriorly and sides of thorax remain dark brown, spiracles, especially posteriorly develop small green areas surrounding them. Overall, appearing like a dead stick. Third instar larvae remain along the skeletonized leaf mid-vein. The larvae measured 13 mm at premolt. The third instar lasted 10 days.

FOURTH INSTAR: As described for late third instar but with head scoli and bifid tails becoming more prominent and paler brown; anterior portion of head becoming dark red-brown with indistinct pale crescent-shaped spots on either side of clypeal suture; lateral patterning becoming more distinct and dorsolateral cream stripes becoming less distinct, especially posteriorly. Fourth instar larvae break into groups of 2–5 individuals but remain fairly clumped on the host plant. The larvae measured 20.5 mm at premolt. The fourth instar lasted 11–12 days.

FIFTH INSTAR ( Figs. 19A, 19B): Overall appearance much like a mossy stick, body roughly square in cross section, narrowing slightly from A1-A6, T2-T3 and A3 with small fleshy triangular protuberances dorsolaterally; larvae develop many small swellings at setal bases, especially on head and bifid tails; head patterning becoming stronger; early in instar larvae are patterned in various shades of brown with well defined pair of dark brown triangles subdorsally on A3; sides of thorax and A3-A4 dark brown with abdominal brown patch tapering posteriorly and supraspiracularly to A5 forming a distinct and roughly triangular patch laterally; dorsum of T1, A4–A5, and bifid tails becoming pale brown; late instar larvae develop mossy green highlights, especially on dorsal thorax, dorsum of A3, and around spiracles. Fifth instar larvae disperse and do not remain aggregated. The larvae measured a maximum of 35 mm before the prepupal stage (estimated from photographs). The fifth instar lasted 14–16 days.

PUPA ( Figs. 19C, 19D). All larvae were removed from the field before pupation and it is unknown where pupation occurs in the wild. Pupa heavily sculptured with a distinct forward curved thoracic keel, abdomen with subdorsal pairs of protrusions, progressively smaller towards cremaster; thorax laterally projected into two pairs of roundly triangular keels; head with a pair of dorso-ventrally flattened projections; overall colour dark brown with large bright metallic-green patches. The pupal length was not measured. The pupal stage lasted 28–30 days. Freshly emerged female ( Fig. 19E).

Etymology: The epithet of this species is an allusion to the diagnostic reduction of the reddish FW patch.

Remarks: This species is known to occur in the area between Macas (Morona-Santiago) and La Bonita (Sucumbíos), along the eastern slopes of the Andes in Ecuador. We initially considered it as a subspecies of D. fraudata , from which it differs mostly in the expression of the FW orange patch, but the two taxa, if not strictly sympatric, have ranges that overlap over a broad region, in Tungurahua and Morona-Santiago, and both appear to occur in the Pastaza valley. Although the single specimen of D. rubroreducta from "Río Topo" is probably mislabelled and was presumably collected at higher elevations, the scant available elevational data do suggest that D. rubroreducta may in general inhabit slightly lower elevations than D. fraudata , which occurs in the Pastaza valley around and above Baños, as high as 2500 m. Other specimens of D. rubroreducta come from elevations slightly below 2000 m. Daedalma rubroreducta and D. boliviana are apparently allopatric but there is no good reason to regard them as conspecific, since the characters that distinguish D. rubroreducta from D. fraudata all apply to an even greater extent to distinguishing D. rubroreducta from D. boliviana .