Porphyrogenes ferruginea ( Plötz, 1883 )

Austin, George T. & Mielke, Olaf H. H., 2008, Hesperiidae of Rondônia, Brazil: Porphyrogenes Watson (Lepidoptera: Pyrginae: Eudamini), with descriptions of new species from Central and South America, Insecta Mundi 2008 (44), pp. 1-56 : 4-5

Porphyrogenes ferruginea ( Plötz, 1883) , reinstated status

( Fig. 3, 4 , 53, 54 , 116 , 135 )

Phareas ferruginea Plötz, 1883 . Type locality: Bahia [ Brazil]; male type (herein designated the lectotype, Fig. 3, 4 ) in MNHU.

Phareas cervinus Plötz, 1883 , new synonymy. Type locality: unknown, becomes Bahia [ Brazil] with neotype designation; original type apparently lost, male neotype herein designated is the lectotype of Phareas ferruginea Plötz, 1883 in MNHU.

Porphyrogenes despecta cervinus ( Plötz, 1883) : Evans 1952.

Description. Male ( Fig. 3, 4 , 53, 54 ) - forewing length = 18.7 mm (Pará, Brazil), 19.3 mm (Amazonas, Brazil), 20.8 mm ( Ecuador); forewing with costal fold, apex slightly rounded, termen convex as is basal 1/3 of anal margin; hindwing termen convex, tornus triangular without obvious lobe, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than to its base and distad of CuA 2 ( Fig. 116 ); dorsum brown; forewing overscaled with orange-brown, heaviest basad, anal margin with sparse tuft on convex portion, small yellow translucent macules present (up to two distal in cells M 3 -CuA 1 and CuA 1 -CuA 2 and up to three subapical macules, Evans 1952); hindwing overscaled with orange-brown posterior to vein Rs, brown discal macules may be prominent (very prominent on two of three specimens examined); shining gray speculum in anterior discal cell, proximal 1/3 of Sc+R 1 -Rs, and proximal 1/4 of costal cell; very short pale tan recumbent tuft near base of Sc+R 1 -Rs, similar semierect pale tan tuft arising from near base of discal cell covering small speculum in discal cell and, with anterior tuft, covering small portion of speculum in Sc+R 1 -Rs ( Fig. 116 ); conspicuous erect orange-brown tuft along anterior edge of vein 2A, recumbent tan tuft from posterior edge of 2A; fringes on both wings dark brown.

Venter similar to dorsum with macules repeated; color duller and browner; forewing vein 2A nearly straight, bare and moderately swollen in third 1/8 (from base), not conspicuously in groove ( Fig. 116 ), shining gray speculum in proximal 1/3 of CuA 2 -2A and in proximal 2/3 of anal cell (continued to tornus as modified tan scales); hindwing with no indication of discal macules; cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of vein 2A.

Dorsal head and thorax orange-brown, palpi pale ochreous, eyes red, antennae black, yellow on venter and beneath apiculus, nudum red-brown, 25 (n = 1) segments, ventral thorax and pectus orange-brown, legs ochre, dorsal abdomen brown, overscaled with orange-brown, ventral abdomen brown.

Genitalia ( Fig. 135 ) - tegumen broad in lateral view, moderately broad and oval in dorsal view, medium length, thin, and curved dorso-caudal oriented process from each side of caudal end, tuft single and sparse; uncus decurved in lateral view, divided in U-shape in dorsal view, arms moderately separated, more or less parallel, thin and long, ventral process of uncus narrowly triangular; gnathos shorter than uncus, not upcurved, terminal ends rounded in ventral view; combined ventral arms from tegumen and dorsal arms from saccus curved; saccus very thin, moderately long, oriented cephalad; valva with costaampulla rounded, curving gradually ventro-caudad to harpe, harpe short, broad cephalad, narrowing to point caudad, curving slightly upward and inward, caudal end oriented dorso-caudad; aedeagus about length of valva, broad with blunt caudal end; cornuti as cluster of thin and slightly curved spikes.

Female - not examined, see below.

Distribution and phenology. Porphyrogenes ferruginea and its synonym Phareas cervinus have been reported from Guyana, French Guiana, and Brazil ( Plötz 1883, Draudt 1922, Evans 1952). Three males were examined: BRAZIL: Pará; Fazenda Velho, near Belém (November, GTA #13769); BRAZIL: Amazonas; Hyatanahan [on label] (= Huitanaã), Rio Purus (March, GTA #4184); and ECUADOR: Sucumbíos, 75 km ESE of Coca La Selva (GTA #9934).

Diagnosis and discussion. A male with a single discal macule ( Fig. 3, 4 ) in MNHU is here designated the lectotype of Phareas ferruginea . This specimen bears two labels: / ferruginea Pl. 5030 type / and / Typus /. This action is necessary to define the species as described ( Plötz 1883), given that the synonymy has proven to be incorrect, and because an associated syntype may or may not be the same species. The lectotype of P. ferruginea closely matches the original description of P. cervinus as well as its subsequent descriptions and depictions ( Evans 1952). They are considered synonymous and P. ferruginea becomes the senior synonym of Phareas cervinus based upon page priority.

Because the type of Phareas cervinus is presumably lost (e.g., Evans 1952, it was not located by Mielke at MNHU), a neotype is needed to define the taxon. To unequivocally stabilize the synonymy of P. cervinus with P. ferruginea , the lectotype of Phareas ferruginea (at MNHU) is here designated as the neotype of Phareas cervinus . That taxon is here removed from its current synonymy under P. despecta ( Butler, 1870) ( Evans 1952; Bridges 1988; Mielke 2004, 2005) based on differences in markings, genitalia, and potential sympatry with P. despecta in northern South America.

Porphyrogenes despecta overall is somewhat paler (yellower) than P. ferruginea and lacks macules on the forewing. Male genitalia of P. ferruginea have a longer and more curvate uncus than do those of P. despecta , with the arms thinner and parallel (divergent on P. despecta ), a gnathos that is not upcurved caudad, a shorter saccus, and a harpe that is not strongly curved upward. Note that in lateral view, the harpes of P. despecta and P. ferruginea are nearly identical. That of P. despecta , however, curves inward more than does that of P. ferruginea and they are quite different when flattened. Both taxa have been reported from Pará, Brazil and Guyana, indicating potential sympatry.

Godman (1907) synonymized Phareas ferruginea (as Phareas cervinus ) with P. pausias based on the unpublished drawings of Plötz. Evans (1952) considered the female of P. ferruginea (as P. cervinus ) to be similar to the male, but with larger discal macules and three apical macules.

Figures

Figure 1-18. Types and associated specimens of Porphyrogenes (ds = dorsal surface, vs = ventral surface). 1) Porphyrogenes boliva Evans, 1952, [holo]type male, ds. 2) same, vs. 3) Phareas ferruginea Plötz, 1883, lectotype male, ds. 4) same, vs. 5) Augiades despecta Butler, 1870, lectotype female, ds. 6) same, vs. 7) Telegonus omphale Butler, 1871, lectotype male, ds. 8) same, vs. 9) Eudamus pausias Hewitson, 1867, lectotype male, ds. 10) same, vs. 11) Porphyrogenes pausias, female associated with lectotype, ds. 12) same, vs. 13) Telegonus probus Möschler, 1877, lectotype female, ds. 14) same, vs. 15) Porphyrogenes suva Evans, 1952, [holo]type male, ds. 16) same, vs. 17) Telemiades vulpecula Plötz, 1882, lectotype male, ds. 18) same, vs.

Figure 51-64. Porphyrogenes (ds = dorsal surface, vs = ventral surface). 51) P. boliva, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 17 August 1993, ds. 52) same, vs. 53) P. ferruginea, male, ECUADOR: La Selva, ds. 54) same, vs. 55) P. despecta, male, [BRAZIL], Pará, no date, ds. 56) same, vs. 57) P. omphale, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 18 November 1992, ds. 58) same, vs. 59) P. omphale, female, PANAMA: Panamá Prov.; Distrito de El Llano, Cordillera de San Blas, north of El Llano, ca. 330m, 9 May 1978, ds. 60) same, vs. 61) P. pausias, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; linha C-10, 5 km S of Cacaulândia, 13 November 1994, ds. 62) same, vs. 63) P. pausias, female, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 16 April 1997, ds. 64) same, vs.

Figure 115-123. Venation and some secondary sexual characters of male Porphyrogenes. Shown is ventral surface including modification of vein 2A and extent of speculum on ventral forewing (irregular line in CuA 2 -2A and anal cell) and origins of veins on hindwing. Insert is of anterior portion of dorsal hindwing showing hair-like tufts. 115) P. boliva, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #1616); 116) P. ferruginea, BRAZIL: Amazonas (GTA #4184); 117) P. despecta, BRAZIL: Pará (GTA #7587); 118) P. pausias, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #4212); 119) P. omphale, BRAZIL:Rondônia (no number); 120) P. probus (GTA #6700); 121) P. sororcula, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #8879); 122) P. spanda, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3225); 123) P. stresa, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3927).

Figure 134-139. Male genitalia of Porphyrogenes; shown are lateral view of uncus, gnathos, tegumen, and saccus; dorsal view of uncus and tegumen; ventral view of uncus and gnathos; juxta; lateral view (with extended vesica) and often dorsal view of aedeagus; internal lateral view of right valva (inset shows the flattened harpe). 134) P. boliva, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3499); 135) P. ferruginea, BRAZIL: Amazonas (GTA #4184); 136) P. despecta, BRAZIL:Pará (GTA #7587); 137) P. omphale, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3229); 138) P. pausias, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #4212); 139) P. probus, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #6700).