Millerana tigrina, Martinez, 2020

Martinez, Jose I., 2020, Revision of the South American genus Gaujonia Dognin (Noctuidae, Pantheinae) with descriptions of five new genera and twenty-one new species, ZooKeys 985, pp. 71-126 : 71

Millerana tigrina sp. nov. Figs 41 , 70 , 94

Gaujonia arbosioides Hampson, 1913 (nec. Dognin): pl. 235, fig. e2.

Gaujonia arbosi Gara & Onore, 1989 (nec. Dognin): 128, figs 58, 59.

Type material.

Holotype ♂, Ecuador: Ecuador, Carchi road Tulcan - El Chical, 0°48'19"N, 78°00'10"W, 12-13. II 2013, 3400 m, leg. Sinjaev & Romanov / UF, FLMNH, MGCL 1049105. [DNA voucher MGCL-NOC-65287] deposited in MGCL. Paratype (1 ♂, MGCL): Ecuador: Ecuador, Azuay Prov., Cajas Nat. Park, Road Cuenca-Pto Inca, 2°46'50"S, 79°10'58"W, 28.11.2012, H = 3615 m, Exped. Ron Brechlin & Victor Sinyaev.

Etymology.

The name refers to the tigrina , Leopardus guttulus (Hensel), in keeping with the wild feline names, as with the other genera, since they are known as "the jaguar moths."

Diagnosis.

Millerana tigrina can be distinguished from M. matthewsae by the large, well-rounded orbicular spot. Millerana tigrina also has distinctive genitalia, with the valva presenting a pronounced concavity on the outer margin, forming a moon-shaped crescent.

Description.

Head. Palp covered with hair-like scales with dorsal side black and ventral side whitish yellow; last segment black with small whitish yellow dot internally; frons yellow. Thorax. Covered with yellow hair-like scales with black patches. Wing. Forewing length: male 17-19 mm; forewing yellow with black scales forming wing pattern; basal line barely visible; antemedial and medial lines disrupted at discal cell; reniform spot large, with small lunate marking in middle; orbicular spot rounded, almost as high as discal cell; two V-shaped marks, one at base of R1+R2, other one at base of CuA2; hindwing whitish silver with yellow fringe; veins yellow. Leg. Prothoracic and mesothoracic legs dark brown with some patches of black and pale yellow; metathoracic legs pale yellow with dark brown from tibia to claws. Abdomen. Covered with pale-yellow, hair-like scales; three small black tufts on A1-A3; a pale-yellow terminal tuft. Male genitalia. Outer margin of cucullar area concave, with two small protuberances, one subapical and lateral to apex and other one smaller, on lower end of lobe; saccular area wide; tegumen wider dorsally and squared; juxta concave posteriorly; aedeagus 3 × longer than wide; a diagonal opening to vesica ⅓ length of aedeagus; vesica almost as long as aedeagus; transverse band of spines near base.

Immature stages.

Egg. Bright green; turns dark green close to emergence. Larva. Five to seven instars; body brown with black and pale-brown secondary setae arising from pink verrucae; diagonal pinkish white lines laterally between spiracles; spiracles white; thorax covered with secondary setae; two tufts of on each side of second tergite. Pre-pupa. Similar to last instar, but darker and with secondary setae shorter. Pupa. Dark brown.

Distribution.

The two specimens of Millerana tigrina were found in the highest elevations of the Andes in Ecuador (Fig. 94 ).

Biology.

Only one species is known in this genus, Millerana tigrina , which was discussed first by Bollino and Onore (2001). Adults are active throughout the year, but mainly during summer. Larvae resemble some species of the genus Panthea , which also feed on pine trees. Larvae have been observed to feed on Podocarpus magnifolius J. Buchholz & N.E. Grayand and Quercus humboldtii Bonpl as well (O. Mahecha-Jiménez pers. comm.).

Remarks.

The type specimen (Fig. 41 ) has a small patch of dead fungi on the ventral side of the abdomen. The specimen from Azuay is poor condition but is still identifiable. This species was misidentified as the female of Millerana arbosioides by Hampson (1913) (as Gaujonia arbosioides ) and Seitz (1919-1944). In addition, the larvae are reported as pine tree pests in Ecuador ( Gara and Onore 1989), but was misidentified as Gaujonia arbosi . Unfortunately, the pictures of the immature stages provided by O. Mahecha-Jiménez were not of good enough quality to be included in this revision.

Figures

Figure 94. Distribution of examined specimens of the genus Millerana.

Figures 26 - 42. Adult habitus of Gaujonia, Gaujoptera, and Millerana species 26 Gaujonia arbosi, ♂, MGCL, Napo, Ecuador 27 G. bichu, ♂, holotype, FSU, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador 28 G. bichu, ♂, paratype, FSU, Loja, Ecuador 29 G. chiqyaq, ♂, paratype, MGCL, Marinio, Colombia 30 G. kanakusika, ♂, holotype, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 31 G. sourakovi, ♂, holotype, MGCL, Cusco, Peru 32 G. arbosi, ♀, MGCL, Napo, Ecuador 33 G. chiqyaq, ♀, holotype, MGCL, Marinio, Colombia 34 G. kanakusika, ♀, paratype, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 35 Gaujoptera amsa, ♂, holotype, MGCL, Cotapata, Bolivia 36 G. amsa, ♂, paratype, MGCL, Junin, Peru 37 Millerana arbosioides, ♂, MGCL, Carchi, Ecuador 38 M. austini, ♂, holotype, CUIC, Cotopaxi, Ecuador 39 M. matthewsae, ♂, holotype, MGCL, Ancash, Peru 40 M. cundinamarquensis, ♂, holotype, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 41 M. tigrina, ♂, holotype, MGCL, Carchi, Ecuador 42 M. cajas, ♂, holotype, MGCL, Azuay, Ecuador.

Figures 69 - 73. Male genitalia of Millerana species 69 Millerana cundinamarquensis, holotype, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 70 M. tigrina, holotype, MGCL, Carchi, Ecuador 71 M. matthewsae, holotype, MGCL, Ancash, Peru 72 M. cajas, holotype, MGCL, Azuay, Ecuador 73 M. austini, holotype, CUIC, Cotopaxi, Ecuador.